Hey I'm looking to buy some really good water color pencils.I need some advice on where to go to here in Melbourne, Oz.....but shipping can take care of that....basically I'm going into water color pencils AND wood carving and I just need a good over-all quality and affordablity.I'll dedicate my first picture to you :) if you can help me.

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Thank you to the Staff of IFX for this site, may the hair on the little hobbit toes never grow too high.

Carly,

I've only ever used Caran d'Ache Prismalo watercolour pencils therefore I can't really compare them with others. I believe they are of very high quality although I'm not sure how well they work with wood carving. 

I've been thinking about having a go with watercolour pencils too. Are they transparent straight away without adding water or can you actually use light over dark like with gouache? I'd rather know beforehand than spend my money on my own ignorance.

Hey Valence,  you can use light over darks like gouache.....gouache is so cool ! hmmm....but like anything we're talking about color so different rules apply differently...my advice....buy one maybe two and experiment. I've decided to go back to WC Pencils, Normal Colored pencils and just other things I've neglected thru the years. So yeah...go buy one pencil and see what ou think.

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Thank you to the Staff of IFX for this site, may the hair on the little hobbit toes never grow too high.

Valence:

I've been thinking about having a go with watercolour pencils too. Are they transparent straight away without adding water or can you actually use light over dark like with gouache?

They behave and feel almost identical to ordinary colour pencils, the difference being that water will dissolve the colour you put down. As you know, light on dark is very difficult with colour pencils, same with Watercolour pencils but, as Carly mentioned, some combinations work better than others. They are not like gouache, however. You cannot lay down opaque colour on top of another colour. 

ive used water colour pencils a bit and i found that they seem to crumble way too easy for me. Plus they dont workk too well with other pencils and rubbing them out is a no. Its hard to find any that your going to be happy with but i'd recomend looking at sites on the net that sell different kinds in small packs or even single and try them out...each artist has his or her own preference and what works for others might not work for you.

Aren't you supposed to use water and scrub with a brush instead of rubbing out?

It's a shame they're not exactly like gouache, that'd be great. Lots of people ask about software that mimics traditional media but I'd much rather have traditional media that mimics the Photoshop experience I realise that no-one's going to invent the sands of time to let us all undo (if only!!), but you know, pen-type drawing, colour, light over dark, maybe even opacity (but perhaps that's a bit too much.) Let's all go away and invent Gouache Pencils! They sound perfect.

But in the mean time, I still fancy a go with watercolour pencils and buy some I shall. Er... when I have some money, obviously.

Yeah, but if like me you have like a thousand colour pencils sitting around and you use them together, whatever you use to rub out or remove one pencil makes a mess out of the other kind(for normal colour pencils and watercolour pencils i mean). I do agre though,something should be made to make it appear like pc digital art for those of us that prefer traditional style.

 They could well work for you. I have gone through nearly ever traditional style and everytime i fall back to graphite, but what works for one doesnt nesecerily work for another so everythings worth trying...like you say when you have the money lol

Ciderman:

Yeah, but if like me you have like a thousand colour pencils sitting around and you use them together,

  Yup, do I know that scenario! I've run out of jamjars that hold brushes, pens and pencils; my watercolour pencils are now all mixed together with my ordinary colour pencils and are kept in a big plastic bag. Searching for a colour is a bit like mining for gold.