Annuals: ARTIST question: on using pencils..., 1 by jipsi

jipsi wrote:
I've started designs on several of my gourds, but have discovered I have a BIG PROBLEM... ;-(
I used a regular pencil to sketch the design/pattern onto the gourd's clean (but unstained, untreated) surface.
THEN I did a wash of a translucent (almost see-through) color OVER the design's border/band area, as it was a background color to be behind the intricate design's color. I planned to go over the faint but still visible "wash" of background color, when it was dry, with a fine brush using an opaque black dye/ink.

But the pencil started to "run" and smear under the background color "wash"... and not only is there no design pattern left for me to work with, the bright orange "background" color is now grungy and muddied with the grey-ish color of smeared pencil...;-o

Is there some secret to this? A different kind of pencil? I don't even want to try pen or a Sharpie, as I worry they will "run" even worse...
The paint I used WAS a water-based acrylic. And so are the dyes (that I have not used yet). I did not use my Gilders Paste Wax, yet, either, for obvious reasons (being "waxy", would repel any overlay color)...

Is there some step by step method available for getting a design to the gourd (I sketched it freehand, with a pencil) that I need to know?

Anxious (don't want to lose another gourd),
jip