Karin Dash Janev Water Soluble Pencils Review: A Compact Set That Punches Above Its Size

Introduction

Every artist has a drawer of forgotten supplies, and this review starts in one of them. The Karin Dash Janev by Cololor water soluble pencils were picked up on a trip to Scandinavia, tucked into a bin in the studio, and only recently rediscovered. That made them the perfect candidate for a proper test: a high-end set from a premium art brand, complete with its own travel paintbrush, used on watercolor paper for swatching and a relaxed illustration project.

The short verdict up front: these are some of the nicest water soluble pencils this writer has used, with only a couple of practical drawbacks worth knowing about before buying.

Who This Product Is For

This set suits artists who want a compact, intuitive way to get watercolor-style results without carrying paints and palettes. Because the pencils act as both dry color and watercolor once activated, they work well for sketching on the go, low-pressure practice pieces, greeting card illustrations, and soft botanical or folk-art style work.

They are also a good fit for people who have tried water soluble pencils before and bounced off them. The pigmentation feels immediate and there is very little learning curve, which makes the medium far more approachable than it often is.

First Impressions and Packaging

The packaging is genuinely a highlight. The case is colorful with gold accents, and everything about it feels high-end, which is not surprising given the brand’s premium positioning. Inside, the layout is compact and efficient, packing a lot of usable color into a small footprint, and the included paintbrush slots neatly into the set.

The pencils themselves feel excellent in hand: super glossy and smooth barrels, and the build quality shows. Across the whole testing session, not a single tip broke or crumbled. They feel durable while still laying down a creamy, pigmented stroke, a balance that cheaper sets rarely manage.

Swatching: Pigmentation and Color Range

Swatching every pencil revealed a thoughtful color selection. There are multiple options within color families, such as a darker yellow and a lighter yellow, which makes it easy to layer and outline rather than working with a single flat tone. The blacks are excellent, and the purples deserve special mention. Purple is so often the neglected color in art sets, especially watercolor ones, and this set represents it well.

The browns are another standout. One leans ashy and the other golden, and together they complement each other beautifully and mute brighter colors when needed. There is also a metallic pencil that delivers a genuinely metallic look for a pencil, though it releases less pigment when dragged with water. The practical takeaway is to save the metallics for final touches with minimal water rather than treating them like the rest of the set.

One behavior to understand before buying: the color you drag down with a wet brush is fairly even, but pigment you have already applied to the page does not move much. You can shift some of it around, but heavy strokes largely stay put. Pressing lighter gives you more flexibility.

Things to Consider Before Buying

Two honest caveats came out of testing.

The included paintbrush is the weak point. It arrived stiff and gluey at the ferrule and needed working loose before it cooperated. Even after fixing it, the brush does not feel as good as dedicated watercolor brushes. It is decent quality and does not shed, but it is short, and even an extra centimeter would have helped a lot. The pencils could easily be made slightly shorter to accommodate a longer brush without changing the case size.

Second, applied color resists reactivation and lifting. A mistake made with heavy pressure is not fully erasable, although a lighter mark does lift surprisingly well. For a medium where most people expect some forgiveness, that is worth knowing, especially if you tend to overwork pieces.

Playing With Color: The Bunny Postage Stamp Project

For a real-world test, the pencils were used for a soft, folk-art style postage stamp illustration: a bunny and a coneflower framed by strawberries, leaves, and small flowers. Even though the swatches looked vibrant, the palette leaned naturally toward softer pinks, yellows, and greens, and the resulting piece had a springy, vintage feel.

A key technique discovered during this project: layering two different pencil colors before adding water creates a much wider range of hues. The muted green on the flower stems came from layering the ashy brown over a vibrant green. Layering complementary colors, like red over green, works similarly. Left unactivated, some pencil lines stay crisp, and mixing dissolved areas with dry lines gives a lovely sketch-like texture.

The set made this kind of soft, layered look achievable without overworking it, which is rare for someone who tends to keep layering until a piece gets muddy. The project was genuinely fun and liberating, and the result was cute enough to scan for greeting cards or stickers.

Portability and Everyday Use

The compact case is the quiet selling point. It slips easily into a purse or bag alongside a small sketchbook, making it a realistic travel and plein-air kit without any extra gear. Everything needed for a watercolor session is in one box, and the simplicity of using only what comes with the set is part of the appeal.

Buying Advice

Rated overall, this set earns a solid 7 out of 10. The color selection, durability, pigmentation, and intuition of use are all excellent, and it stands among the best water soluble pencil sets this writer has tried, especially coming from someone who does not normally enjoy the medium. The main improvement would be a slightly longer included paintbrush, with pencils shortened to fit.

If you are new to water soluble pencils or want a premium-feeling portable set with strong color coverage, this is an easy recommendation. If you are picky about your watercolor brushes, plan to use your own brush and treat the included one as a backup.

Conclusion

The Karin Dash Janev water soluble pencils turned a forgotten vacation purchase into one of the more enjoyable supply tests in a long time. Glossy, durable, pigmented pencils, a well-chosen palette including genuinely good purples and browns, and a compact case make this a set worth hunting down, especially since it was released as a limited edition and similar sets from the brand may be easier to find. Just bring your own favorite brush.