Leaf-Peeping in Crown Hill (and Pencil vs. Crayon Dilemma)

 

10/15/25 Crown Hill neighborhood (Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle pencils)

Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons

On what was probably the last gorgeous, sunny afternoon for the foreseeable future (and we’ve had more than our share this season – a rare treat in these parts), Kim and I met on Crown Hill for leaf-peeping and -sketching. Although she couldn’t join us, Mary Jean had scouted several intersections in her neighborhood with flaming maples. I parked near one and walked to the rest to check them all out. I had time for only two, but I snapped photos along the way for your viewing pleasure (end of post). What a lovely time of year!

Material notes: For many years now, Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle water-soluble colored pencils (with occasional Derwent Inktense in the mix) have been my color medium of choice. Highly pigmented, super soft, portable, versatile, easy to use and carry while standing – they are hands-down the ideal color medium for the way I like to sketch on location. 

Importantly, their portability and ease of use in an A6-size sketchbook make them an ideal choice on my fitness walks, like the sketch at Green Lake that I showed yesterday. Without water-soluble colored pencils, I would have missed that sketch that day because I don’t bring along a larger sketchbook or crayons when my main purpose is walking. I have long been in a deep, meaningful, committed relationship with these amazing pencils (sketch at top of post).

Svelte, lightweight, easily used in a small sketchbook while standing: The ideal color medium. (Look how ratty the Inktense barrels get after being daily-carried for a while.)

Once in a while I’ve flirted with Museum Aquarelle’s heftier cousin, Neocolor II water-soluble crayons. Chunkier and heavier, the crayons require a larger sketchbook to use them freely and slightly more water to activate fully. Not all the hues have top-level lightfast ratings, so the range is much wider than Museum Aquarelle’s, and I have several favorites in Neo II that I can’t get in MA. They are definitely not as easy to use as pencils while standing, though. I’ve managed to find a workable solution using a Rickshaw Sinclair as a standing case, but crayons are cumbersome.

Still, I used them quite a bit this past summer and even started wondering: Could this be the beginning of a serious, long-term relationship? What keeps me coming back to Neo IIs is that their large, blunt tips can’t be used to draw fiddly details, so they encourage me to think more like a painter. I enjoy the challenge of making large blocks of color and vague shapes (like the cars in the second sketch) instead of drawing tiny details.

Cumbersome but painterly.

In addition, Neo II crayons have taught me how to use Museum Aquarelles in different ways. For example, the crayons don’t activate quite as readily as the pencils, so I sometimes add layers of different colors after the first is dry, and then reactivate. I’ve lately been doing this more often with MA pencils, too. (By the way, to do this, strong, high-quality watercolor paper is necessary. I can do it with 100 percent cotton Hahnemühle, but not with most other sketchbook papers, which will start to shred after multiple wettings and reapplications.)

I know I don’t have to choose; I can have a happy, non-monogamous relationship with both. However, for a compact urban sketcher like I am, it’s burdensome to carry both. It’s been so long since I’ve made a substantial change to my portable sketch kit . . . is there an acceptable compromise I can find?