Distress Watercolor Pencils compared to Copic markers

Distress Watercolor Pencils compared to Copic markers

Most of you know I LOVE to color and I mostly color with Copic markers. I have been coloring and teaching with Copic markers for over 14 years. A lot of what I teach when coloring with Copics can be translated to any alcohol-based markers. I have this helpful post all about Copics, where I share a good variety of colors to start with, I share my favorite two-color blends, and the best supplies to start out with.

Copic 101 post

I also have an online Copic class available online, and you can register here.

As a Tim Holtz maker, I was given these Distress Watercolor Pencils and asked to share my thoughts on them. For this post, I wanted to compare Copic coloring (or alcohol-based marker coloring) with the Distress Watercolor pencils that were just released last week. I hope you find this post helpful, and I am definitely going to be sharing more in the coming weeks as well as an online class focused on this coloring medium soon!

I used to color with watercolor pencils all the time, but my favorite brand was discontinued, and I hadn’t found another brand that I like that was affordable and easy to find. I am so excited about these DIstress Watercolor pencils for *many* reasons and I can’t wait to share them with you!

I decided to create two identical cards so you can see the different looks you can achieve with Distress Watercolor pencils and Copics. The top card was done with Distress Watercolor pencils and the bottom card was done with Copics. I can promise you I am not going to ditch my Copics, I will still be coloring with them, now I just have more options depending on what mood I am in, or what I want my project to look like.

For both of these cards, I stamped them with Lawn Fawn Jet Black ink. It works with any coloring medium and does not bleed. It gives a nice crisp black impression. I used the On the Beach set from Lawn Fawn. When coloring with Copic markers I like to use stamp the images on Neenah Classic Crest Cover, Solar White 80#, Super Smooth, Lawn Fawn white cardstock is just that. I have also found that coloring with Copics on Distress White Heavystock works very well too!

When using Distress Watercolor pencils, I found it is best to use watercolor cardstock. I love Distress Watercolor cardstock because it is a nice true white. It also has a textured side and a smooth side. I tend to use the smooth side when stamping an image and coloring in so that the detail remains. The price is affordable, and by using one kind of watercolor cardstock I get consistent results.

When coloring with Copic markers I tend to stick to a 2-color blend method. I find it is an approachable way to color, where you don’t need to feel like you have to own all the Copics (there are over 300 colors and that can get quite expensive). Sometimes with colors that are trickier to blend, or if I am coloring a larger area I will use 3 colors to blend.

One awesome thing about Distress Watercolor pencils is with ONE pencil, you can get a wide range of tones of color. By adding more or less water is how you achieve a darker or lighter blend. Speaking of adding water, You can use a paintbrush or a waterbursh when coloring with Distress Watercolor pencils. A waterbrush is convenient because it holds the water in the brush for you, however, I personally like to use a paintbrush because I feel I can control the water more. When doing any type of watercoloring, learning to control and know how much water to lay down is the trickiest part, but as with any coloring medium the more you practice the more you will get a hang of it.

I tend to use a number 2 and number 4 round brush the most. The Ranger pack of brushes has both of these, and for the price point, they are very good brushes that can take a beating. I have had mine for years and years and they are still going strong!

If you ever get into a situation where you have too much water on your project, you can blot it with a cloth, or use your heat tool to dry it.

There are many ways to color with the Distress Watercolor pencils, and I am sure I will share more in the future, but here is a quick glimpse at some common ways.

• You can start by scribbling on some color where the shadow of your image will be. You may see some flecks of the pencil scatter about, this is ok. You can brush or blow them away.
• You can then take a clean, wet brush and start to color over the pencil, blending the color down the shadow area.
• Then with a clean wet brush, you can pull the color from the shadowed area into the lighter areas, this is only going to pull some of the color giving you a lighter version.
• If you want to darken the shadow, you can take a wet, clean brush and pull the color directly off the Distress Watercolor pencil, and paint it where the shadow is.
• Then with a clean wet brush, pull the color again as you did previously.

Remember, depending on what coloring medium you are using the final look is going to appear different. You might not get as smooth a blend with Distress Watercolor pencils as you do with Copics, but that is the beauty of having different coloring mediums to choose from, you will get a different result.

For the scene that I built on both cards, I used Lawn Fawn’s Simple Stitched Hillside Borders, Stitched Wave Borders, Puffy Cloud Borders, and Spring Showers die sets.

For the card where I colored with Distress Watercolor pencils, I also colored these scene-building pieces with Distress Watercolor pencils, I cut them out of Distress Watercolor cardstock as well. For the beach (Vintage Photo), waves (Salty Ocean), and sky background (Peacock Feathers, Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry), I dipped the Distress Watercolor pencil into the water, then scribbled the color directly onto the Distress Watercolor cardstock. To smooth out the color I used a wet paintbrush. For the beach, I also splattered a bit of darker color, but dipping the Distress Watercolor pencil into the water, then taking a paintbrush and pulling it across the tip, over the beach, leaving some splatters of color.

For the clouds, I scribbled a little bit of Salvaged Patina Distress Watercolor Pencil, over the stitching, then with a wet brush I blended it out, and softened the edges.

For the card where I colored with Copics, I used Distress Inks and blender brushes to ink blend the scene-building layers. I love to ink blend with Simon Says Stamp blender brushes, that I organize in the Layer Cake blender caddie. I also use the square Ink Stands to hold onto my ink pads when I am ink blending. I used the same ink pad colors as the pencil colors listed above.

Below, I swatched out the colors I used in both Distress Watercolor pencils and Copic markers, and also showed you the blend. You can see you need far less pencils to get a nice blend.

I assembled the cards using foam squares and a Lawn Fawn glue tube. The sentiment was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black, a nice crisp black that works well on top of all kinds of mediums.

Another thing I love about the Distress Watercolor Pencils, they are the colors we all know and LOVE. So when I want a pink I know to either grab Picked Raspberry or Kitsch Flamingo. Although not all of the Distress colors are out in watercolor pencil form just yet, I bet if these sell really well, and are popular Ranger will come out with more! Right now there are 3 sets of Distress Watercolor pencils and they come with 12 pencils each for a total of 36 colors.

I shared some more projects and inspiration with Distress Watercolor pencils on my post here

I hope you have found this post helpful, and informative! Let me know in the comments any other questions you have, and I will work on addressing those in future posts!

If you would like to see some more projects I have created with Distress Watercolor Pencils, you can here. I have an online class all about Distress Watercolor Pencils – see more details here.

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Cardmaking Supplies Used

Supplies I used are linked throughout the post. Click on the picture and you will be taken to the product. I use affiliate links when available which means if you make a purchase I get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Tim Holtz/Ranger Ink, Distress Watercolor Pencils Shop at: SSS | R	Distress Watercolor Pencils, set 3 Shop at: SSS | R	Distress Watercolor Pencils, set 2 Shop at: SSS | R	Distress Watercolor Pencils, set 1 Shop at: SSS | R
https://www.shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantID=90944&userID=647049&productID=1050712439 Shop at: SSS | LF	Lawn Fawn, Spring Showers Shop at: SSS | LF	Lawn Fawn, Simple Stitched Hillside Borders Shop at: SSS | LF	Lawn Fawn, Stitched Wave Borders Shop at: SSS | LF
Lawn Fawn, Puffy Cloud Borders Shop at: SSS | LF	Distress White Heavystock Shop at: SSS | shurkus | R	Lawn Fawn, Jet Black Premium Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | shurkus | LF	Lawn Fawn, 80# White 8.5 x 11 Inch Cardstock Shop at: SSS | shurkus | LF
Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black Ink Pad Shop at: SSS	Simon Says Stamp, Blender Brushes Shop at: SSS	Blender Brush Caddie Shop at: shurkus	4″ Lazy Susan Shop at: HBS
Scotch, Mounting Putty Shop at: HBS	Tim Holtz, Distress Watercolor Cardstock 8.5 x 11 Shop at: SSS | shurkus | R	Ranger Paintbrush Set Shop at: SSS | R	Faber-Castell, Collapsible Water Cup Shop at: SSS
Lawn Fawn Glue Tube Shop at: SSS | shurkus | LF	Fiskars Microtip Scissors Shop at: SSS	Ranger, Heat Tool Shop at: SSS | R	Flour Sack Cloths Shop at: HBS
E37, Sepia Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	E37, Sepia Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	Y15, Cadmium Yellow Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	Y15, Cadmium Yellow Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA
YG05 Salad Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	YG05 Salad Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	YR14, Caramel Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	YR14, Caramel Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA
B00, Frost Blue Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	B00, Frost Blue Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	YG01, Green Bice Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	YG01, Green Bice Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA
Y38, Honey Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: BA	Y38, Honey Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	Y13, Lemon Yellow Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	Y13, Lemon Yellow Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA
RV21, Light Pink Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	RV21, Light Pink Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	E51, Milky White Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	E51, Milky White Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA
BG13, Mint Green Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	BG13, Mint Green Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	BG11, Mint Green Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	BG11, Mint Green Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA
E33, Sand Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	E33, Sand Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	YR04 Chrome Orange Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	YR04 Chrome Orange Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA
B04, Tahitian Blue Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	B04, Tahitian Blue Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	B02, Robin Egg Blue Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	B02, Robin Egg Blue Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA
YR27 Tuscan Orange Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	RV10 Pale Pink Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	RV10 Pale Pink Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	RV13 Tender Pink Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA
RV13 Tender Pink Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	E42 Sand White Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA	E43 Dull Ivory Copic Original Marker Shop at: BA	E43 Dull Ivory Copic Sketch Marker Shop at: SSS | BA
Misti 2.0 Shop at: SSS | LF	Mini Misti 2.0 Shop at: SSS | LF	Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy Shop at: SSS | shurkus | LF	Mermaid Mint Shammy Case Shop at: shurkus
Altenew, Mini Blossom Die Cut machine Shop at: SSS | HBS	Spellbinders Platinum Shop at: SSS | SB	Spellbinders Limited Edition Aqua Platinum Shop at: SB	ATG Gun Holster, Mint Shop at: shurkus
Tim Holtz/Tonic 8.5 Guillotine Paper Trimmer Shop at: SSS