Mind Blown. I had no idea these even EXISTED 🎨 Caran D'Ache Neopastel II pastel unboxing

[@annikawaii]

They also have open stock available 😊 I purchased mine step by step instead of a full set where they always include colors that I don’t like as much.

[@Pointebrush]

That’s a terrific idea and I didn’t know they sold open stock! Pinning this cause it’s a great way to have more control over your starting colors 👍

[@suel4269]

Me too

[@Mirrigold]

I love my NeoColor ii but I've found they work best if you (generic) use a stiffer nylon waterbrush rather than a traditional paintbrush for helping them to dissolve. I also like to use them neat from the crayon themselves and I also use the special palette that Caran D'Ache created for this line of water soluble pastels. Loved your dancing jellyfish ladies ❤

[@Pointebrush]

I agree with you @Mirrigold. I use my Princeton Umbria brushes or stiffer Taklons with better results! I also love using these as finishing touches on top of traditional watercolors for some extra pops of saturation that the watercolors can’t achieve on their own 👍

[@Skinnychelle48]

I agree!

[@gertietheduck]

They are not new - I had these as a kid and still have the original box as well as my much older sister’s box from the 80s! I absolutely love these as well as Neocolor I and Neopastels. Caran d’Ache was the first brand I ever fell in love with as a kid and that made me want to make art ❤

[@priscillawarren9979]

The small 10 piece set is all you need to get started. They're fabulously colorful and a joy to play with. Thank you for demonstrating them here.

[@Pointebrush]

Yes! Start small and if you like it, you can always add to your collection 👍

[@shadowguard3578]

No it’s not just you, when I see colors beautifully arranged they are so appealing and some products look edible! I have a basic set of 15 Neocolor II (the smallest set they have is ten pastels). I purchased quite a few open stock for the same reason Kawaii O mentioned, to avoid colors I’m not going to use. I wasn’t very good at using the Neocolor II, so I stopped using them as pastels and I made a DIY watercolor palette with them, which restarted my watercolor journey. I’ve used watercolor pencils in adult coloring books, coloring pages, and stamped images. I also use them for detail and to correct errors in my watercolor paintings. Your illustration is beautiful but it also made me realize why I wasn’t very good at using the Neocolor II. I was trying to use them for precise coloring, when I should have been using them for a more loose style. BTW if you’re wondering what the stickers are for (I did until a YT creator mentioned it in their video), you place the corresponding product sticker on the tin. A number of Caran D’Ache products have the same red colored tin, so by using the product sticker you can ID the contents. Can you tell I LOVE art supplies?! 🤣

[@Pointebrush]

Ahhhh that makes sense!! Thank you for that little insight on the stickers! I think that you’re absolutely right about these not being the best solution for intricate or small sized work. I think I would go crazy if trying to do something small and with detail lol. You have to mentally prepare yourself for some looseness, sketchiness and freedom of movement and that’s one of the strengths of this particular medium so why not leverage that, right? I think that once you embrace that a little more, these won’t “fight” you as much and it will be more relaxing and fun to do! Let me know how it goes if you jump back in! ❤️

[@shadowguard3578]

@@Pointebrush you’re welcome and I hope you have fun using them!

[@rakisk8r]

Beautiful!! Thank you for your inspiration and light spontaneity. Margot!

[@stephenwelham]

Try laying a blend of colours then mist with a spray and let the spray move the colours

[@Pointebrush]

I’ll try that! Thanks for the tip!

[@markc4204]

I should start using watercolor pastels one day. Plus, at 7:28, that part of a jellyfish is called a bell.

[@Pointebrush]

Definitely worth a try! And thank you for the jellyfish tip 😉

[@awatercolourist]

I think of candy when unwrapping van Gogh pans. The old sky blue rappers remind me of a candy I used to eat a few years ago.

[@Pointebrush]

I definitely think of candy too with most watercolor pans. Thank goodness we can control ourselves right? 😂

[@awatercolourist]

@@Pointebrush Just about 😂 But I'm glad to report that my mind is no longer confused when I unwrap van Gogh pans 🤣

[@kathyhaley710]

So beautiful! Love how it turned out!

[@barbariska757]

You may also like Neocolor I - the creamy wax crayon pastels - to use with the Neocolor II's. One resists the other, and the interplay is very interesting.

[@Pointebrush]

That sounds really interesting and fun to try! Thanks for the recommendation! 👍

[@rosaliefunk1629]

Thank you for doing a painting with them. So many other artists only swatch them for the entire video. I have a smaller set of these. When I paint with them, my art looks more like gouache than transparent water color. I agree with you. They are fun.

[@lilurabyana4207]

For me I bought the 40 colors and I think is just perfect because you get all the beautiful colors and no the brown and white neutral colors

[@deeanncross7674]

I love the sea background. I've collected about 45 colors of this set, but haven't used them lately. I definitely added too much water in the beginning and got a bit frustrated. Your water tip is a good one. I need to break them out again! Fun painting, nice video.

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you! And definitely being light handed with the water will prevent it from becoming waterlogged. You need just the bare minimum and that way it doesn’t dilute your colors and make them move around too much. Good luck!!

[@LCLand]

@@Pointebrushyes that’s what I loved about the effect. You could get that rich striking not so blended look that is difficult if not impossible with watercolor paint

[@suel4269]

I bought several individual colors from The Merri Artist in Oregon.

[@franswey2]

I love the Caran D’Ache Neocolor ii’ Aquarelle and the Neocolor’s i’s. I bought a few of the Neocolorii’s to see if I liked them, a great idea. I was choosing from Dick Blick’s list, love their prices, and discovered I just loved the all! It was cheaper to buy the the whole set of 84 😍But they were back ordered 😢. I stumbled upon a discontinued and unopened set of 126 colors of Neocolor ii’s in Switzerland on eBay 😍😂💃🏼. I purchased them, too. Blick’s got the Neocolor’s in earlier than expected and so I got them too.

[@awatercolourist]

Thanks for making me aware of these pastel watercolours. I think they will go on to my to-try wishlist.

[@iadenicole931]

I love the CD watercolour crayons. You have more control with them. Beautiful drawing. Very inspiring.

[@Pointebrush]

To be fair, I find watercolor pencils to be quite difficult to work with. These seemed much easier to work with from my experience (albeit it's been a while 😉). Thanks for watching!!

[@LCLand]

I would love to see more like this. I agree it’s a wonderful effect like soft pastel. So delightful 😊🩵🏜

[@lauraanderson3056]

I love this painting. So beautiful. I’m inspired to use my Neocolor II crayons

[@Pointebrush]

I’m glad this video was motivation to revisit your set of crayons! 👍 Good luck and have fun!! 💕

[@E4Alabbasy]

love the jellyfish concept 😍

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you! 🐙🐙🐙

[@michellepietersen6827]

You are brilliant Margot. What an incredible idea

[@terryfrank3107]

I have a set of 40 CD Neo Color ll’s and really like them but have never used them like this. I can’t wait to try this or something like it! I am so enjoying your channel!!

[@Pointebrush]

Hi Terry! Welcome! And so glad I was able to jump start an idea and hopefully a great piece for you! Let me know how it goes! 🙌

[@nancyinnl4160]

After watching this video, I decided to order some of these watercolour pastels. They were just delivered! Looking forward to trying them!

[@kinestet_art]

Thank you for the interesting video review! They are my best choice for travel (of course small kit of 30+some nice colors). So an amazing product for sketching and drawing without any affords.

[@BethHemry]

I love the colors in the 3rd one

[@yvonneadrian734]

Absolutely beautiful ❤

[@Bugiddle]

I bought the small set over 20 years ago, and made some Harry Potter posters with them when I taught a HP summer camp. They are really fun to use. I bought the Suny brand from Temu recently. Two different sets. I'm sure the quality is not as high as Neocolor, although they look identical. I'll probably just use them for messing around with.

[@maryhazlett]

This is a lovely review/demo, Margot! Your subject for the review is magical - I kept expecting to hear The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies! A question: Do the pastels seem durable? When I've used their watercolor crayons, I find they seem to break easily.

[@Pointebrush]

Thank you so much! I’m tickled that it made you think of sugarplum 😉 As far as the durability I would definitely say that in this test I didn’t get a single pastel breaking under me. I have had some breakage and snapping with watercolor pencils before so I would venture to say that these are more robust and less fragile.

[@sosterbruna]

Hi Margot! First I would like to say that I'm new here and I'm completely in love with your art, it's genuinely beautiful! I also have a question for you: what kind of varnish/fixative you use at the end to protect watercolour Neocolor II finished paints from smudging? Thank you ❤

[@impish22]

who can resist?.. .... not me..

[@Pointebrush]

Me neither (as we all witnessed) 😂🙈

[@marjo-riittareinikainen9740]

Neocolor 2 are watersoluble wax crayons. Not pastels. Closer to oil pastels, and not dry pastels at all.

[@togetvj]

You had no idea these even existed? That's because they don't. I've been searching for Neopastel II, in accordance with your video title. 😂 No wonder I couldn't find them. You unboxed Neocolor II. 😂

[@LCLand]

If you don’t stop I can’t play with you anymore. This is in my cart now. Send help

[@sueallen952]

They are not pastels they are soluble crayons, I have these and they are fabulously creamy and vibrant, if you have a look there are sets of 10 in autumn shades and pastel shades

[@Pointebrush]

I suppose that’s a fair thing to say but Caran D’Ache does refer to them as pastels in their packaging and marketing materials so I just went with the manufacturer’s labeling if that makes sense 😉 And thanks for the autumn color recommendation! Perfect for this time of the year!

[@SabrinasTwistofColor]

@sue Allen they actually are pastels in a soluble wax form. I urge you to read about them if you don't know. Pastels don't always come in a chalk style form.

[@gertietheduck]

The old packaging from the 80s for both these and the Neocolor I used to call them wax oil pastels. Not sure why they changed the description as the product has not changed and they are still more oily than any other wax crayons, which is something a lot of people don’t realise. You can actually blend them with your finger and make pretty smooth transitions. They are kind of in between oil pastels and crayons. Or like very oily woodless pencils.

[@loati94]

@@gertietheduck To me they don't feel anything like oil pastels and I own 5 different brands of oil pastels. They feel like a soft wax crayon so the name wax pastel is spot on. I can't blend them with my fingers though, maybe smudge them, but not blend them.

[@awatercolourist]

Are these water soluble pastels opaque?

[@shadowguard3578]

If heavy-handed I would say yes they are opaque. I made a DIY watercolor palette with my Neocolor II. I snapped them in half 😈, gently softened them with a craft heat tool, chopped the half stick into pieces, gently reheated the pieces, then put the pieces into an empty watercolor palette box. I achieved very transparent/translucent washes. If you’re curious there are quite a few Caran D’Ache Neocolor II videos on YT. That’s how I discovered them! 😇

[@awatercolourist]

@@shadowguard3578 Thanks is one long DIY process 😄, but I love the idea! I’m sure to check other KZbin videos on these colours. I’ve already added the Caran d’Ache Neocolor II to my art materials wishlist 🙂

[@Pointebrush]

Love the hack Shadow Guard! I’ll also say that the opacity of the color does depend on the color you’re using. I suspect it might have something to do with the specific color pigments as well.

[@awatercolourist]

@@Pointebrush Thanks so much!

[@shadowguard3578]

@@awatercolourist Thank you! I was determined to use my Neocolor II in a DIY palette since I was disappointed at my efforts using them in pastel stick form. I felt like a mad scientist during the process! 😁