As I’m going through my sewing and art supplies I want to actually sample and see if it is something I want to keep or if it’s something I can use in the future, professionally or just for fun.
First thing I found in my stack of watercolor supplies was my Helix Oxford Watercolor Pencils. I bought this set from Walmart ages ago. There are 12 colors in the set; Red, Blue, Green, Black, Light Blue, Dark Green, Purple, Orange, Yellow, Pink…and two more…but guess what? They have been lost…somewhere… They are kept in a thin metal tin. I do not remember how much they cost. Looking online, it looks like they are actually not made anymore and the date on the review I found is from 2009. Alrighty then…
If you are interested in purchasing them, you can get them on Amazon.
Watercolor pencils are made just like colored pencils. The pigment inside the wood reacts to water, just like any other watercolor medium. However, with these pencils you can be specific on where they go, which is helpful when you aren’t experienced with watercolors. Watercolor isn’t an easy medium to use; I definitely recommend practicing. You can use these watercolor pencils two ways. The first way is by drawing what you want to paint directly onto paper and applying water after. If you choose to go about this way, I do recommend to watch the amount of water used and letting the area you want to paint dry before you move to the next area or you will get a big ugly mess with colors mixing. (Unless this is what you want, so go for it!). The other way is to wet the pencil and just go for it. I’m not a fan of this method because of the condition of the pencil tip afterwards so I just draw and add water. Regardless, watercolor pencils help create nice vibrant shading and I recommend them whenever possible because you have more control. The only thing I do not like about watercolor is the limited possibilities of mixing colors. You can always add different types of watercolor together to create the desired effect but if you just have the 12 color set, you can mix colors by layers but colors won’t be as diversified.
In order to test out my Helix Oxford I created a grid of 2″ pencil boxes on watercolor paper (I just went to look up what type…and guess what? I can’t find it . :-(. And I just used it a few days ago…). I took the color and notated it so that I have a reference when I want to use that specific color in the future. I colored the boxes in such a way where one side was darker other side lighter to test shading. Then I went over the box with water using a flat 1/4″ brush.
First image is just the pencil shading. Second image is the painted image. You can still see the tooth of the pigment from the pencil on the grain of the watercolor paper, which is something you sometimes can’t avoid with watercolor pencils unless you dip the pencil in water and paint that way.
Overall, the coloring and painted went just as expected; it looks just like a colored pencil looks like when it is used on paper with a rough tooth (surface of paper). And when the water is added, it looks like what watercolor should look like. I did notice one thing, the darker pigments would “collect” while drying. See my black sample above. I wet the entire box in one go. As it was drying, it collected on the sides and the pigment grouped together. Blue did it as well. The lighter colors were smooth though.
Overall, these pencils did their job and I intend to keep them to use in my costume renderings for layering. And I’m looking forward to locating the additional two colors (I have a feeling they are hiding in the colored pencil bins…). Since they were purchased from Walmart, I know they were not very expensive so I feel this set would be ideal for a student artist or someone beginning in watercolors.
In terms of organization, I intend to keep this set in it’s metal tin. I have started a “paint toolbox.” I had a leftover toolbox from graduate school that will now hold my paints. The thin tin will sit flat on the bottom of the toolbox utilizing space efficiently when thinking about minimalist art organization. That’ll be another post when organizing my paint box.
Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I have not received any compensation from the Helix Company to review any of thier products.
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