Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Review

What They Are

Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle is a line of water-soluble wax pastels. They are made in Switzerland and have a firm, creamy consistency. I am reviewing the 40 set of Caran D’Ache Neocolor II in two ways–wet and dry–to test out how good they are.

Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Packaging Review:

If I could give zero stars for the packaging alone, I would. I paid $90CAD for this set of 40 pastels, but the tin box was thin and flimsy, and there was no foam to cushion the pastels. Even the cheap Mungyo soft pastels come with thick foam cushioning for protection.

To make the matter worse, Amazon, as usual, decided to ship this in a bubble mailer. The tin was banged up in the corners. When I opened the box the pastels were chipped, creating a lot of debris all over each of them. It did not give me a good impression.

Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Review: Lightfast Rating

Another big disappointment is that 1/4 of the pastels had the lowest lightfast rating. Caran D’Ache Neocolor II pastels are also sold open stock; the manufacturer could have included more lightfast versions of the colours in this set.

I had purchased this set mostly because of the purples and blues and sadly, these are the colours with the lowest lightfast rating. 🙁

Review of Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle as Watercolour

To review Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle, I’d be remiss not to test its water solubility. I used the pastels dry first, depositing a moderate amount of pigment on Strathmore 400 series watercolour paper (cold pressed), before wetting it and turning it into watercolour.

By the way, I used Pentel Aquash water brushes, which are the best water brushes you can get, as the water does not leak to the brush unless you squeeze the firm reservoir.

True to its claim, Neocolor II Aquarelle dissolved and turned into watercolour, leaving no strokes. The colours were vivid and pigmented. I also picked up colours directly from the pastels with the wet brush and painted like that, which worked very well. If you want the convenience of pan watercolour, these pastels do the same.

I left Yu’s hair slightly splotchy at the top to mimic the original drawing of her character, which was in pastels. For the background, I used Sky Blue dry, but the rest had been painted with water.

Review of Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle as Pastels

Next, I tested Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle dry as pastels. They are firm and create no dust, so they are not messy to use. The colours are vibrant and waxy. Because they are wax pastels, they do have a sheen to them, similar to the wax bloom from my Prismacolor Premier coloured pencils. A paper blending stump will help you blend slightly quicker but these firmer pastels don’t spread to every groove of the pastel paper (Strathmore 400 series pastel paper) the way soft pastels do. You need a bit of elbow grease to fully blend the pigment into the paper if you want that smooth look.

Wet v. Dry

Despite the flimsy packaging and poor delivery, I do like Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle. They are creamy, pigmented and ultra water-soluble, so you won’t see any strokes when you dissolve the pigment with water. I can see why so many people love them. They are super easy to use. The only cons are the price point and the product packaging.

Mixed Media Finish With The Same Product

I personally do love how easy it is to do watercolour painting with Caran D’Ache Neocolor II, but my favourite way of using these pastels is actually a mix of both wet and dry. In my painting of Yu below, I have added the whites dry to the painting as a finishing touch for highlights.

By the way, once the watercolour dries, I did have a hard time using wax and oil-based coloured pencils on top. Even the white pastel pencils had a hard time showing up. This is where the watercolour or acrylic ink would come in handy.

All in all, Caran D’Ache Neocolor II is a very nice set of water-soluble pastels and I highly recommend it if you have it in your budget.