Many people are familiar with chalk pastels and oil pastels, but lately companies have come out with some new wax pastels that are water soluble. One of these brands is the Caran d'Ache Neocolor II Watersoluble wax pastels. I decided to see how these wax pastels compare to oil pastels. For those who want to try these out for themselves, I have included my Amazon and Blick Art Materials affiliate links down below.
I purchased the tin of 30 watersoluble wax pastels. They retail for around $47 on Blick Art Materials. They come in sets of 10, 15, 30, 40, and 84. These wax pastels are also available open stock on Blick Art Materials for $2.48 a piece.
When I opened the tin I could see that they were a wax stick wrapped in paper. They resembled regular crayons except they were longer. Oil pastels are usually much shorter as well. There was also pamphlet of all the colors available in this line and the other products available from Caran d'ache.
Cutie Boots was seeing if they passed the smell test! (I don't know what his criteria for that is, but he seemed okay with them, haha.)
When you use these wax pastels without water they are similar to oil pastels. When water is added the pigment dissolves into a watercolor-like wash. The paper wrapper has the color name and number on it. The colors are bright and vivid. According to the Caran d'ache company most of these colors are lightfast. The blues and yellows are not as lightfast as all the other colors when used as a wash.
'Cutie Boots Sketch'
by Ellie Taylor
I used these pastels to make a sketch of Cutie Boots sleeping. I drew the beginning sketch and made the first layer a wash of the base colors. Then I added a second layer and left some of the dry wax pastel look. The final layer was the details and I used the dry wax pastels to add as much detail as I could. Just like with oil pastels, you can't get very fine details with these wax pastels. You just have to make an impressionistic look or try colored pencils on top of the wash layer. Different types of paper will also make a big difference with the final look of the picture.
So what's the verdict? I like these. They are fun and I like that they are water soluble. With oil pastels if you want to dissolve them, you have to use a paint thinner. It's much easier to get the same look as oil pastels with these wax pastels and just dissolve them with water instead of a hazardous material like paint thinner. Since most colors are lighfast, these can probably be used to make professional art pieces, just be careful about using the blues and yellows in a wash.
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