Caran d’Ache Neocolor II 15 Pastels: Keep the Mark or Add Water

A crayon-shaped mark can stay rough and visible, or become the starting point for a brushed wash. Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle offers both approaches in a water-soluble wax pastel. The 15-color metal tin suits someone who wants to move between drawing and painting without beginning with a large collection.

The useful choice is the medium, not simply the number of colors. This is Neocolor II, whose water-soluble formulation invites wet techniques. If you want precise pencil detail or a mark that must stay unaffected by water, make that requirement part of the decision before buying.

Start with the stick, then choose the next step

Caran d’Ache lists dry drawing, wet drawing and watercolor among the uses for Neocolor II. That gives a small study more than one possible direction: leave some drawn passages visible and bring a brush to the areas you want to treat as paint.

For a sketch of a bowl of fruit, you might begin by deciding which shapes need a distinct edge and which could work as broader color areas. Try those two approaches on a spare piece of the intended paper before the main drawing. The value is being able to choose the mark, rather than feeling obliged to dissolve everything because the pastel is water-soluble.

A brush, water container and suitable paper become part of the setup when you choose the wet route. Think about where those items will sit, especially on a small table. Keeping the tin compact does not make the whole painting setup fit inside it.

Choose wax pastels for the marks they encourage

The manufacturer describes a soft, velvety texture and specifies an 8.65 mm diameter. These are substantial pastel sticks rather than fine-point drawing pencils. That difference matters when you decide what you want to put on the page.

The format encourages you to consider color shapes and visible strokes early. A short, loose study is a sensible first project: choose a few colors, place a small group of marks and decide where water would add something useful. Save the most important passage until you have seen a sample of the medium on that paper.

If the pleasure of your usual work is tightly controlled lettering or tiny repeated details, a dedicated fine-point tool may fit better. The Neocolor II tin makes more sense when you want to explore a wax pastel's direct mark alongside a brush-based passage, rather than asking it to behave exactly like your existing pencil.

Make fifteen colors useful before expanding

The selected set is the 15-color assortment, reference 7500.315. Its metal tin gathers the sticks in one place, making the available selection visible before you start. Confirm the count and the II Aquarelle name when ordering; other Neocolor boxes contain different assortments or a different medium.

A limited selection can make the first decision easier: choose which few colors belong in a particular study instead of spreading the whole tin across the desk. That is an approach to working with the set, not a claim that fifteen colors can replace every specific hue you might eventually need.

Make your own small swatch sheet and keep the color numbers beside the marks. Compare a dry sample with the version you make using water. The manufacturer's range chart lists separate lightfastness ratings by color, so do not turn the family name into a blanket promise about every pigment or display condition.

Buy the drawing-and-wash workflow you will use

A paper-based project is a clear way to start. Choose paper suited to the wet step you intend, and keep the sample sheet available while you work. A mixed-media plan still needs choices about the surface and the order in which marks are added.

Choose this tin if a compact assortment of water-soluble wax pastels would give your sketches another useful direction. Keep your purchase narrower if one familiar drawing tool already covers the work, or choose a different medium when fine detail or water-resistant marks are essential. The reason to buy Neocolor II is having a purposeful choice between a visible pastel mark and a wet passage.