Major Splurge: Caran d’Ache Neocolors II Water Soluable Pastels

I believe in birthdays.  I’m a big fan of cake, extra attention, and splurging on something fun.  This year, I did a major splurge on the  Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Water Soluable Pastels 84 count set.  Best early birthday splurge ever.

I read about them a few months on Daisy Yellow.  I started with a small set, and they have since become my favorite art supply.

They are very similar to the texture of an crayon, are easy to draw with, and don’t make much of a mess. I’ve only used them as watercolors, but I’ve read that they can be used in lots of ways.  They are a little expensive, but they are also a lot of fun and totally worth the splurge.

Typically, I pick random colors, fill a page in my art journal, and then use my Pentel Arts Aquash Water Brush to apply water and mix around the colors. I love to really saturate the pages and let all of the colors wash together.  I do these pages for fun and use them as backgrounds in my doodles, like in Watercolor Doodle Lion and the doodles below.

If you haven’t seen Daisy Yellow before, her artwork is fun and colorful, and I really appreciate how much of her energy she devotes to inspiring others.  And, if you want to know more of what I think about birthdays, check out: Sixteen Candles, Part Deux and Dear Me.