Hi everyone! I am here today to share with you a few cards I created with the new Distress Watercolor Pencils from Tim Holtz/Ranger! I am honored to be a Tim Holtz maker and am so excited to inspire you more with his products!
Shop the new Distress Watercolor Pencils here!
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Tim Holtz/Ranger: New Distress Watercolor Pencils
Omgosh you guys! I am wicked excited to share with you some projects I created with the new Distress Watercolor Pencils. I used to color with watercolor pencils all the time, until my favorite brand discontinued theirs and I hadn’t found an affordable replacement, until now! Be warned, this is definitely a “jennabler alert” post and I can assure you that you will see many more projects from me with these awesome watercolor pencils!
Ok, how about some inspiration and more information?
Above you can see all three sets swatched out. To do this I scribbled some of the watercolor pencils, then pulled the color out with a wet paintbrush.
- There are 3 sets of 12 for a total of 36 colors.
- The colors match the Distress line perfectly so they are the colors that we know and love.
- The Distress Watercolor Pencils are woodless and highly pigmented.
- The pencil has a stickered label, and they are formulated to be sharpened.
- These pencils work best on watercolor cardstock, Distress Watercolor cardstock is perfect.
- They will color over Distress inks and Distress Oxides.
Ok, let me now share some projects I created with them, and explain my processes:
For this card, I stamped some flowers from the Tim Holtz Flower Garden stamp set, I stamped it with Black Soot Archival onto Distress Watercolor Cardstock. I then proceeded to watercolor the images. I scribbled some of the pencils in the shadowed areas, and with a wet, clean paintbrush I pulled the color out. When I wanted the shadow to be more intense I would dip the pencil into the water, and then pull the color off the pencil with a wet paintbrush.
When watercoloring like this I find that it is best to work around the page. Start in one area, work on that, then move to another section not near or touching the last area you worked on, then you don’t need to worry about colors running together.
Once I got the images looking the way I wanted, I dipped the Speckled Egg Distress Watercolor Pencil into the water, and then pulled color from it with a wet paintbrush and painted in the shadow around all of the images. To fade the color out, I would use a clean brush and soften all the edges.
Lastly, I loaded up a brush with Vintage Photo Distress Watercolor Pencil and splattered that around the card. I used some Tim Holtz Ideaology Clippings Stickers for the sentiment and matted the card onto Distress Kraft Heavystock.
For this next card, I started with the background. Using the script stamp from the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Papillion stamp set. I took the Black Soot Distress Watercolor Pencil and dipped it into the water, I then colored directly onto the red rubber stamp. Since the pencil is softened from the water the color glides onto the stamp very well. I gently misted the stamp with the Distress Sprayer and stamped it onto a piece of Distress Watercolor Cardstock.
For the focal point of the card I used the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Bird Crazy set, and Crazy Things for the top hat. I stamped the images with Black Soot Archival onto Distress Watercolor Cardstock, and I scribbled out the pencil into the shadow and pulled the color with a wet brush. Once the images were colored, I fussy cut them out and added them to the card with foam squares.
For the sentiment, I added a snarky one from the Tim Holtz Ideaology Snarky Small Talk sticker book. I then matted the card onto black cardstock.
For these last three cards, I used the same technique as the previous background, where I dipped the Distress watercolor pencil into water, and colored it directly onto the red rubber butterflies from the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Papillion set. This technique works best with red rubber stamps, it holds the pigment better then clear stamps.
Once I loaded up the stamp with color, I gently misted it with water with the Distress Sprayer, and stamped it onto Distress Watercolor Cardstock. I then gently misted the stamp again with water, and got a second generation impression, and once more misted it with water and got a third impression. Because these pencils are so highly pigmented you are able to still get a beautiful impression after multiple stamping.
The above close ups show you the different looks closer, and you can see the beautiful detail.
I hope you can see from these cards just how fun, and effortlessly it is to create with the Distress Watercolor Pencils. I will be back soon to share more about these pencils with you! Let me know in the comments any questions you may have, and I will do my best to address them!
Shop the new Distress Watercolor Pencils products here!
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 below. 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 | Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous, Flower Garden Shop at: SSS | Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous, Bird Crazy Shop at: SSS | Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous, Crazy Things Shop at: SSS |
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous, Papillon Shop at: SSS |  Tim Holtz Idea-ology CHRISTMAS Clippings Stickers Shop at: SSS | Tim Holtz/Ideaology, Snarky Small Talk Stickers Shop at: SSS |  Lawn Fawn, Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables Shop at: SSS | LF |
 Tim Holtz, Distress Watercolor Cardstock 8.5 x 11 Shop at: SSS | shurkus | R |  Tim Holtz/ Ranger Ink, Distress Archival Inks Shop at: SSS | R |  Tim Holtz/Ranger, Distress Archival Ink 4 Pack Shop at: SSS | R |  Lawn Fawn, Black Licorice 8.5 x 11 Cardstock Shop at: SSS | LF |
 Scrapbook Adhesives, Black Foam Strips Shop at: shurkus |  Scrapbook Adhesives, mixed black foam squares Shop at: shurkus |  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 |  Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy Shop at: SSS | shurkus | LF |  Mermaid Mint Shammy Case Shop at: shurkus |
 ATG Gun Holster, Mint Shop at: shurkus |  Tim Holtz/Tonic 8.5 Guillotine Paper Trimmer Shop at: SSS |
Beautiful work and clear explanations, thank you. For your everyday use, do you see yourself storing these pencils in rainbow order vs the original sets as given? Just wondering.
🌸Ilene
Thank you so much! Happy you enjoyed the post!
I have a feeling I will have them all together in one tin, the Distress Storage Tin.
I did just purchase a second set so I can have one set for messy techniques (dipping the crayon in water etc) and one set where I can sharpen it. The neater set, I will probably put in rainbow order and keep in their original cases with the holders.
Thank you for your review! They look so exciting but I want to ask if I may what is the actual difference between these and regular art watercolour pencils already available (other than the colour palette matching existing Distressed tones)? Thank you!
Tim mentioned in his live about the Distress Watercolor Pencils, that if you already have and love a brand of watercolor pencils, you may not feel the need to have these, and that is ok.
However if you don’t own any watercolor pencils, these are very affordable, and high quality, so they are a great addition to your supplies.
If you do have some already or even if you don’t, yes, knowing that they coordinate with the Distress palette is very nice. I know when I have been coloring with them it is nice to know when I grab a certain color, knowing what it is going to look like ahead of time and what colors blend well together etc is really nice.
Thank you so much for the reply! I live in the UK and the 3 sets retail price is around £69 – £75 or £25 for 1 set of 12 pencils as opposed to a pack of regular artist watercolour pencils 24 set (example – Faber Castell) which cost around £16 so the price difference is quite significant unless I am missing something. I wanted to know if there are any major differences before I splurge. I would love to stamp with these pencils, this is something I haven’t tried with the classic watercolour ones and was just looking to see if there is any other major difference. Thank you very much for taking the time to reply!
Hi Arianna,
When I mentioned the affordability I was comparing the prices to some high quality watercolor pencils which in the US can range in price from
Faber Castell are about the same price as the Distress Watercolor pencils.
Tim talks about this in his LIVE about the pencils. If you have a set of watercolor pencils you have already purchased and love, then stick to those.
A benefit of the Distress Watercolor Pencils is the color palette we all know and love from the line of Distress.
Another thing I love is that they are woodless- meaning more pigment to color with.
Hope this helps
Like your “playing” with the Tim Holtz watercolor pencils. Some awesome cards. Thanks for sharing this with us.
The three cards you made with these new water pencils are great! I wouldn’t have thought to use the water pencils to pull color off with a wet paint brush. Great idea and I’m going to use that one. I had purchased the distress markers when they first came out and I still have them but never use them because the color just wouldn’t flow. Seemed like they were already dried up. I like the distress water pencils and plan to purchase to add to my Tim Holtz collection. Thank you Jenn for sharing your creative designs.
Are these like crayons where the entire pencil can be used? And you peel away paper (in this case sticker) as you use them up? Thanks!
Yes, they are a woodless watercolor pencil, with a label wrapped around them. You can sharpen them and peel the label away when needed.
Curious how these compare to other watercolor colored pencils? I’ve used a couple different brands in he past. I use crayola ones with my kindergarten class. They love them. Ok I love them too!
I used to use Stadeler watercolor pencils before they discontinued them. I would say that Distress watercolor pencils are comparable. They are a good price point, they are highly pigmented and work fabulously. I also love that they are the Distress colors that I am so familiar with.
Love your cards, I haven’t watched Tim’s video yet have to wait for the grandchildren to go to bed, he might have answered my question in the video but was wondering how the pencils do after dipping in the water, do they try back to original form. Would love a how to video on using the pencils
Thank you
I have dipped them into water, to then scribble with or to then take a paintbrush to the tip to pick up the color and it has worked fabulously. I haven’t let the pencil sit in the water long. They keep their shape very well, and you can always sharpen them when dry when needed.
Hope this helps!
I plan on using these in many upcoming projects and hopefully even have an online class with them!
Yea! Online Class!!! I was just going to ask about that! I had a set of watercolor pencils when I first started making cards but never really knew how to use them, and was never happy with the colors. I think, like you said, since we are so used to these colors and matching them (or watching you match them) that I’ll use these a lot more.
Thanks for this great post! Love these cards!
Definitely, Definitely, Definitely have an online class with them, Jenn!!!
Love love love your cards. Can t wait to purchase these new pencils
Beautiful coloring on these projects! I can’t wait to play with them myself!
Hi Jenn. I recently started following you and love all your cards you make! They are so beautiful. I do have a question. Inam new to Tim Holtz’s distress inks and now pens!! I did see his video today and I was blown away. Do you have any video for beginners using his inks or what you advise? Thank you for your advise 😊
Welcome to the world of Distress 🙂 and I am so glad you found me 🙂
I would highly recommend taking my online Distress Ink Technique class
https://shurkus.com/product/distress-ink-techniques-online-class
and I also have a Distress Sprays & Mediums class https://shurkus.com/product/distress-techniques-sprays-mediums-online-class
Both of these are fabulous to watch and see what supplies you want to gather, then watch again and play along.
Hope this helps 🙂 let me know if I can answer any other questions!
Love your cards, Jenn! And I love the three generations of stamping! I’ve been Jennabled! Can’t wait to see more inspiration using these new pencils!
Love your cards. I’m not much of a water colour person, but I may be persuaded!
I would love to actually know what colors of pencils you used on each card. Thank you.
These projects were created when I first got the pencils and was experimenting and playing… I actually didn’t have a plan to show them, I was just in the moment of discovering the Distress Watercolor Pencils. Going forward I will share the specific colors I am using on a project 🙂
Hoping you’ll have a Distress class on using these wonderful new Watercolor Pencils. These are gorgeous.