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Express yourself with colors
German quality
For more than 165 years

STABILO watercolor pencils

Watercolor pencils for small and big artists

What are watercolor pencils?

Watercolor pencils are colored pencils with a special lead that makes the pencil watercolorable or aquarellable.

How do I use a watercolor pencil?

There are different ways to use a watercolor pencil:
  • Use the watercolor pencil like a colored pencil: Without adding water at all, you can use watercolor pencils like a regular crayon.
  • First paint dry, then wet: You apply color with the dry pencil tip on e.g. a dry paper. Then use a wet brush to spread the drawn strokes and mix the colors as desired.
  • Painting with a wet pen tip: Dip the pen tip in water and then paint with the wet tip on dry paper. This creates very thin lines, but they look as if they were painted with a brush. But be careful: do not dip the pencil too deeply into the water, otherwise the wood can become wet and thus brittle. Only the tip should be wet. 

All watercolor pencils

Frequently asked questions:

There are different ways to use a watercolor pencil:

  • Use the watercolor pencil like a crayon: Without adding any water at all, you can use watercolor pencils like an ordinary crayon
  • First paint dry, then wet: You apply color with the dry pencil tip, for example, on a dry paper. Then use a wet brush to spread the drawn strokes and mix the colors as desired.
  • Painting with a wet pen tip: Dip the pen tip in water and then paint with the wet tip on dry paper. This creates very thin lines, but they look as if they were painted with a brush. But be careful: do not dip the pencil too deeply into the water, otherwise the wood can become wet and thus brittle. Only the tip should be wet. 
The most suitable is special watercolor paper, which is very absorbent and on which the colors can be painted well. 
The answer to this question depends on what you want to do with the pencil. If you plan to paint what you have painted with a brush and, if necessary, combine it with watercolors from a paint box, then watercolor pencils are the best choice.