These Neocolor I non-water soluble wax crayons are popular for mixed media and journal work because of their pigment load. This is not as intense as the Neocolor II range of water soluble pastels but then these crayons serve a different purpose and the wax carrier must, by necessity dilute the pigment just a little.
They are soluble in any oil solvent such as turps or linseed oil and can be used with oil painting techniques. Where they really come into their own is in wax resist techniques under watercolours or acrylic paints. The range is not as great as that found in the Neocolour IIs, but the 40 colours plus 10 Metallic colours available, will blend well together to give a wider palette of colours.
These are not student grade or children's oil crayons. These are serious artist's grade wax media with only four colours out of the available forty, having poor lightfastness ratings. They can be used to replace coloured pencils or hard pastels for drawing, but of course their water resistant and soluble properties open up a whole new dimension for experimentation. They are also excellent for jazzing up a visual diary, just as are the Neocolor II range of water soluble pastels.
As you can probably tell, I'm a great fan of the Caran d'Ache® Neocolors be it the I-s or II-s. They are a great value for money product and you don't have to continually sharpen the jolly things as you do for the pencil based media. They seem to last for ages even when working on a sanded surface with it's abrasiveness.
Caran d'Ache® have a nice downloadable PDF with ideas for using both their lines of Neocolour pastels and crayons.
There are some good reviews of these Neocolor I crayons on the Dick Blick website. The range seems to be freely available in most countries, so your favourite art supplier probably stocks them or could order them for you.
Colour Chart for Caran d'Ache® Neocolor I Wax Pastels
Courtesy of Caran d'Ache®
Colourfast Ratings Chart Neocolor I Wax Pastels.
Courtesy of Caran d'Ache®
