Neocolor 2: water soluble crayons. Sounds like fun!

 

My sister Rose Marie gave me a lovely gift of cash for Christmas and said that maybe I could find a new medium. Well, I thought about it. Was there anything I hadn't tried? I thought about oil pastels. I'd used them. I had some. But I'm not a fan. Then I went on Amazon and browsed through recommendations and came upon Caran D'Ache Neocolor 2 watersoluble crayons  (amazone affiliate link). They are from Caran D'Ache so quality wasn't an issue to me. I'd done some great work with watercolor pencils but I'd given them up and given them all away. I've got to stop doing that. Just for full disclosure, I bought these are supplies myself. I was not sponsored by Caran D'Ache or Stonehenge. 

I bought a 30 crayon set. I also bought a 12 pencil set of their water soluble colored pencils. They came quickly and I pulled out my Stonehenge Hot press Watercolor paper (jamazon affiliate link). This is my first attempt and I thought is was pretty good for a first try. Have I not been saying I was going to work with pastels practically exclusively not necessarily in those words but I thought I was done with water colors in all forms. Evidently not.

I used the Neocolor 2 to create this juvenile Cardinal. Just click on the image below to see the YouTube Video demonstration of my first sojourn into the world of watercolor crayons.

But I wanted to do more experimenting and that included some watercolor techniques like salt and blooms. This painting is my completed work. This video is still in edit. I'll be working on a review video next. I really prefer to have some experience with the medium before I review it.

I enjoyed working with the Neocolor 2. Blending with water was easy and smooth.  The rich color is muted with the addition of water but the pigment takes on the feel of watercolor. If you want to use the Neocolor 2 as just a crayon, the vibrance remains. You can build up over the washes you create to add more depth of color of keep the colors soft and translucent. I purchased the Neocolor 2 40 crayon (amazon affiliate link) but if you can't afford that, there is a  Neocolor 10 crayon set (amazon affiliate link) and as with any watercolor pigments, you can create more colors with the application of water and blending.  Just click on either link for more information about these crayons.