I have a special request for an upcoming private session and today I spent some time playing with the materials. My lovely student has watercolor pencils and wants to do a cosmos sky. I’ve created night skies in acrylic pant and in colored pencil but not in watercolor. I wanted to give it a try to make sure I could guide her to a great result in our session.

Watercolor pencils are a lot of fun to work with. They can be used so many different ways. Of course, when they are dry they are just like any colored pencils, but if you wet them, you can use a wide variety of regular watercolor techniques and also some fun things that are not as possible with pan or tube watercolors.

In my sample, I’ve used pairs of colors that are similar or near on the color wheel. I tried three basic techniques – wet on wet to produce soft edges, wet on dry to create more precise shapes, and dry to wet – first coloring with the pencils and then washing over with water. I messed around with a variety of effects, too. In some of the samples I added black, in some I left the black out. And when each sample was dry, I used a white pen to create the pinpoints of light, except in one square, which I somehow missed.

I am pleased with these results. By limiting the palette to two colors (plus black) the sense of the universe comes out perfectly. I will try again with more colors together, but unless they are carefully placed on the page with a good mind paid to color mixing, I think it is likely to become a muddy, less vibrant night sky.

Should you want to do a private or custom group session with me, please contact me. I’m not currently offering scheduled classes for the public, but I would love to work with you directly on whatever Drawing Meditation topic you are interested in.