Karst stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils, sponsored art post, www.Fenne.be

Karst stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils, sponsored art post, www.Fenne.be

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to try the innovative stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils that Karst gifted me.

It can be tricky to accept a collaboration with an unfamiliar brand or materials, but it’s utterly exciting too! The tickling feeling of waiting, a package arriving at the door (always a plus because most packages arrive in a shop in town), slowly unboxing, and revealing the materials. It’s all part of the fun!

What do you think of watercolor pencils?
My only experience with watercolor pencils was a tin that was gifted to me in the early 90’s. It had beautiful vibrant sea blue on the cover and an image with fish and I was super excited when I got them. I enjoyed drawing but wasn’t impressed by the watercolor aspect as the colors were dull and faint, and I probably lacked the skills to get more out of them- so sadly I never used them.

The Karst pencils provided me with a very different experience.
A little overview:
– The pencils feel rather heavy, probably because they don’t have any wood surrounding the pigments. This also means you can use both the tip and the sides.
– The box contains a nice variety of colors- I value a range that isn’t purely hyper-vibrant colors that only cover the basics. I loved finding the greyish-blue and olive, for example.
– I was surprised by how long they lasted. Even after a few sketches where it felt like I had used a lot of pencil, they still looked new 🙂
– So far, I used them on the stone paper for which they are optimized, but they should work on regular paper too.

Onto another new tactile exploration: the stone paper.
As a lover of rocks and stones, stones as a source to make paper tickled my curiosity. Would it feel like I’m an ancient Roman carving stone?
Well no, the Karst paper is made of calcium carbonate and a natural resin- and it looks and feels like paper, just a bit smoother than average paper and more like polyfilm or coated paper.
It’s also bio-degradable and waterproof so paint doesn’t get absorbed.

Karst stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils, sponsored art post, www.Fenne.be Karst stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils, sponsored art post, www.Fenne.be Karst stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils, sponsored art post, www.Fenne.be

As I do with most new materials, I started with a sample sheet on which I tested each color, then applied water and blended them. This overview of all the colors and their effect (both wet and dry), helps with picking the right colors later.

I chose a few raw and tumbled rocks from my collection because I liked the link to the stone paper, and the opportunity to focus on color and texture.

Karst stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils, sponsored art post, www.Fenne.be

You can use the watercolor pencils in different ways.
– Dry, like a normal pencil.
– Coloring an area first and gently brushing the marks with a wet brush.
– Dipping the pencils in water and then drawing on paper (similar to drawing in wet areas)

Because the paper doesn’t absorb water as watercolor paper would, the watercolor dries a bit differently and I noticed that it tends to show less color in the middle and darker edges. An effect that I sometimes see with alcohol ink paintings- but I’m not a watercolor artist so it might depend on your technique and the amount of water you use. Like with all wet materials, patience is a virtue.

Onto the next sketch!
Two large tumbled pebbles this time. Challenging colors and textures!
While I wasn’t striving for an exact copy of my references, I did want colors that were a close representation of the beauty of these pebbles. Therefore I experimented with mixing colors first and applying them in thin layers. I used the back of my sample chart to scribble different colors next to each other and then blend them with a wet brush. This worked great!

Karst stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils, sponsored art post, www.Fenne.be

You can see the process in this video:

 

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A post shared by Fenne Kustermans (@fenne.be)

Karst stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils, sponsored art post, www.Fenne.be

If you would like to know more about the Karst products, you can check the website: karstgoods.com.

Karst stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils, sponsored art post, www.Fenne.be