Frog Study — Practice with New Watercolor Pencils

This one started as a simple practice session. I found a great frog photo on Pinterest and used it as a reference to try out a new set of watercolor pencils I'd been wanting to test.

Watercolor Pencils on Strathmore 500 Series

I went in with ink first, letting the pen do the structural work — the eye, the curve of the back, the angle of the hind leg tucked up underneath. From there it was all about layering color loosely and letting the pigments mix on the page rather than on the palette. You can see that happening especially around the haunch, where yellow-green, olive, and a little violet all bleed into each other.

The watercolor pencils handled differently than I expected — more control for tighter areas, but they still let go and bloom nicely once water hit the page. That combination of control and looseness is exactly what I was hoping to find.

Not every piece needs to be about a finished, polished outcome. Sometimes it's just about sitting down, testing new materials, and seeing what a frog looks like when you let the pigment do most of the talking.