Water-Soluble Media Showdown

 

Water-solubility comparison in Hahnemuhle 100% cotton sketchbook
(Top row: dry activated with water; bottom row: dry applied on wet paper)

“Them’s fightin’ words.”

That was my response to Roy when he said he thought Stabilo Woodys were more water-soluble than Caran d’Ache Neocolor II crayons. Whaaat?? Woodys are great, but they aren’t more soluble than Neo IIs! And that was all I needed to hear to pack all my favorite water-soluble products for a showdown at our next play date!

Since both Roy and Mary Jean had missed the recent USk outing at US Bank Centre, we thought it would be an ideal spot to spread out our sketch kits. Most of the products I compared – Woodys, Neocolor IIs, Derwent Inktense Pencils and Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle Pencils – were roughly equal in solubility when applied dry and activated with a waterbrush (upper row), so maybe Roy’s opinion wasn’t as provocative as I had initially taken it. However, it’s interesting to see that Inktense Blocks blow all of them out of the water in terms of both solubility and intensity. The lower row was made dry-into-wet: I wet the paper first, then scribbled the dry media onto the wet paper. That’s where both the Blocks and Woodys appear more soluble. I admit, I was surprised that the Woodys were more intense than the Neo IIs when activated this way.

(For the record, although I had just given away my larger set of Woodys at the Gab & Grab, I do still like them a lot, especially their softness. But because their barrels are so thick and chunky, they are too bulky to carry, so I just wasn’t using them much. Luckily for me, Mary Jean got the Woodys, so I can still play with them on our play dates. And I did keep my small set of Woody Duo Pencils because – bicolors.)

While I was having the showdown, muttering to myself that Roy may have been right about the Woodys in some applications, he and Mary Jean were happily sketching and ignoring my geeking. I felt silly having a showdown alone, so I followed suit. (Sketches in tomorrow’s post.)