Soluble/Non-Soluble Mixing Geekery

 

4/14/22 Green Lake neighborhood

The day after my mixed-media experiment, I went out looking for another scene with a variety of colors and textures in foliage that would make a good subject for this type of mixing. My goal was to use non-soluble and water-soluble media together in ways that take advantage of their qualities or so that they enhance each other. This time, instead of using Caran d’Ache Neocolor I wax pastels (which I thought might have been too waxy to mix in this way), I used only non-soluble colored pencils and watercolor pencils.

Since it was another cold morning, I stayed in my mobile studio, but the car was ideal for this experiment anyway: I needed lots of pencils – more than I would want to carry in my bag while standing! (Once I figure out what I want to do with this strategy, if anything, I’ll need to choose colors more judiciously and limit my selection for use on location.)

Using non-soluble Prismacolors and Caran d’Ache Luminance, I first drew all the parts that I wanted to remain sharp: The pale yellow-green leaves in the traffic circle, the barely visible caution sign, the car, the tree limbs and the fence. Then I went to town with Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle watercolor pencils on the dark purplish-red plum tree foliage and the dark green foliage growing in the traffic circle. I spritzed all the areas where I had applied watercolor pencils. I thought the effect I was going for worked better this time: The water-soluble pencils dispersed with water because I applied them mostly in areas where I had not previously applied non-soluble pencils.

When I got home, I decided to release my geek for more systematic testing of various combinations of non-soluble and water-soluble pencils. To compare apples to apples as much as possible, I used only Caran d’Ache pencils (non-soluble Luminance and Pablo and water-soluble Museum Aquarelle) so that I could match the color numbers. As you can see, though, the colors do not match exactly (though close enough if I were trying to achieve cohesiveness in a sketch). The pencil key shows the color numbers I used. I did two sets of identical tests  – one on Hahnemuhle 100 percent cotton and one on Hahnemuhle "akademie"  – in case there was a significant difference (there wasn’t). I used a spritzer for all tests below as I would typically use in the field when I want a textural blend.

Pencil color key

Hahnemuhle 100% cotton

Hahnemuhle 100% cotton

Hahnemuhle "akademie"

Hahnemuhle "akademie"

I also tried a couple of combos using a brush (below). The arrows show the direction of my brush stroke. The different effects are interesting, but I’m not sure how I would use them.

Hahnemuhle "akademie"

Unexpected bonus sketch!

More experimentation is needed, of course, but looking at my tests and thinking about the sketches I’ve made so far, I think it’s better to apply watercolor pencil first, then apply non-soluble pencil, rather than vice versa (for the effects I’m trying to achieve). Although less than Neocolor wax pastels, wax- and oil-based pencils have enough resistance that watercolor pencils do not layer over them well compared to directly on paper, and that resistance also affects how the water-soluble pigment activates with water. I do like how the non-soluble pigments allow the texture of the paper and undissolved layers (even water-soluble layers) to show through (as in tests 3 and 7). When reversed (water-soluble applied on top of non-soluble, as in tests 2 and 6), the layer underneath is more obscured.