One of my favorite things about sketching is exploring how different materials respond to real locations, changing weather, and fast-moving scenes. Over time, I’ve come to rely on five main water-soluble tools: pencils, markers, brush pens, a fountain pen, and pastels. Each has its strengths—and quirks—and I’ve used them in field sketches to document architecture, nature, and everyday street scenes. Here’s a look at how each one performs, through five sketches drawn during my travels.
In my recent post I explored how different color palettes reflects and changes the same view. You are very welcome to read it here.
Fountain Pen (Lamy) — Frankfurt Old Town
In the heart of Frankfurt, I captured the half-timbered house in the central square with my trusty Lamy fountain pen. This quick and loose sketch let me focus on shape and rhythm without getting bogged down in perfection. The ink I used was water-soluble, which allowed me to soften parts of the linework with a light brush wash, creating a subtle tonal variation that gave depth to the drawing. Fountain pens are wonderfully portable and expressive—great for linework that carries emotion, especially when combined with water.
Water-Soluble Pencils (Winsor & Newton) — Winter Lakeside Scene
This calm, snowy town by the water was drawn with water-soluble pencils, and the medium truly came to life once I brushed water into the reflections and background. The crisp blue outlines stayed sharp where needed, while soft washes brought atmosphere and depth to the lake and trees. Pencils give me precision and subtlety, with the added magic of washable color when I want to enhance a mood or soften a transition.
Brush Pens (Pentel) — Palais Royal Metro in Paris
Capturing the whimsical metro entrance at Palais Royal, I used black, red, and brown Pentel brush pens. Their flowing ink and flexible tip let me create motion and gesture quickly, ideal for sketching people and festive details like the garland of hanging lights. I love how bold brush pens can be—just a few strokes can suggest shadows, patterns, or figures with minimal effort. These pens turn speed into an aesthetic strength.
Markers (Tombow) — Prague Christmas Tree and Cathedral
For this holiday scene in Prague, I used Tombow markers with a light water wash at the edges. While the color palette was vibrant, I found the blending and washes to be less smooth than expected. Tombows offer great convenience and layering potential when dry, but I’ve learned they’re less reliable for controlled watercolor effects. Still, they’re handy when I want something portable with built-in variety.
Pastels (Caran d’Ache Neocolor II) — Crescent Beach, California
On a bright day at Crescent Beach, I sketched a rocky cliff topped with palm trees using Neocolor II pastels. These sticks are pure fun—rich in pigment and bold in texture. The waxy strokes blend beautifully with water, especially for organic scenes like rocks and vegetation. This medium thrives in expressive, slightly wild sketches where texture and color play a bigger role than precision. It’s a liberating tool for plein-air painting.
Water-soluble supplies offer a world of expression for travel sketching, each lending a different energy to the page. Whether I want sharp architectural lines, soft reflections, gestural figures, or textured cliffs, I now know which tool to reach for. As much as each material has its technical profile, it’s ultimately about the connection between hand, eye, and scene—and how these tools help tell the story of the place.
