Everything You Need to Know About Watercolour Pastels

Discovering Watercolour Pastels

I discovered Neocolor II by Caran d’Ache in May 2024 during a creative weekend with my watercolour artist friends. These moments of sharing almost always lead to discovering new art supplies and new passions—and this was definitely the case for me with these wax pastels. I immediately fell in love with their texture, the way they are used, the intensity of the colours, and all the possibilities and learning paths that opened up to me.

It is a real pleasure to discover a new medium and start again from scratch—well, almost from scratch. My knowledge of colour and composition helped me get to grips with these new tools. I therefore started from some of my watercolours to create my first wax pastel drawings, reusing my colour combinations and compositions so I could focus on the technique.

Of course, not all my attempts were successful, but the time spent drawing was always enjoyable. These moments of drawing, colouring, or sometimes even doodling don’t really exist in watercolour and are incredibly relaxing. Being able to change colours constantly, not being constrained by drying times, and being able to come back to a drawing the next day are all limitations that disappear compared to watercolour.

After sharing my drawings on Instagram, I received many questions: how do you use them? What techniques should you try? How do you activate them with water? I’ve now been using wax-based watercolour pastels for over a year, and I’d love to share my first learnings with you.

What Are Watercolour Pastels?

What Are the Different Types of Pastels?

• Dry pastels: friable pastels that leave a powdery layer of colour on the paper—very similar to the chalks we used at school (feeling old yet!). There are several types:
  • Soft pastels: very crumbly and powdery
  • Hard pastels: still powdery but more solid
  • Pastel pencils: soft pastel core encased in wood

• Oil-based pastels: their texture varies depending on the binder:
  • Oil pastels: greasy, soft, almost creamy texture
  • Wax pastels: smooth and velvety texture, firmer than oil pastels
  • Watercolour wax pastels: same texture as wax pastels, but water-soluble

The great advantage of Neocolor II is precisely their watercolour quality.
By wetting the pastel directly on the paper or using shavings on a palette, you can obtain a wash quite close to watercolour.

So What’s the Difference Between Watercolour Pastels and Watercolour?

You can paint with watercolour pastels, but the amount of wash (water + pigment) you’ll obtain is limited. You won’t be able to create a full watercolour painting with strong contrasts and large, flowing blends using only watercolour pastels. This feature is more useful for lightening a shade or adding variety to a piece. As their name suggests, they are still pastels that can be activated with water—this remains secondary.

If your goal is to create beautiful watercolour paintings, I’ve created a course to learn all watercolour techniques while painting colourful minimalist landscapes.

That said, if you come from a watercolour background, pastels open up many new possibilities!

Because you don’t use water, there’s no risk of diluting or lightening colours. As a result, artworks are naturally more intense, with fewer light tones. Between blending, layering, fusions, textures, line work, and flat areas, pastels allow you to create vibrant, powerful drawings.

I deepened and applied these techniques during my 100 Day Project 2025 on mountain summits (you can read my article on the topic here). To show all these discoveries in detail, I created two videos available on YouTube.

These two media share a few similarities: both are transparent, and although pastels are more opaque, they still allow underlying layers to show through. This makes it possible to create new shades. I show this process in my video on Neocolor II – dry techniques.

Colour theory remains the same: you need to create your colour palette before drawing to ensure a harmonious result. However, while watercolour allows for many value variations through dilution, pastels offer very limited ways to lighten a colour (for example by layering white over the initial colour), unless you activate them with water (see my video on wet techniques).

I go into more detail in the video, but my first major learning was letting go of my watercolour reflexes when it comes to values. Even though I was drawn to wax pastels for their intensity, I hadn’t yet learned how to fully apply that intensity in practice.

My Material Recommendations for Getting Started 

How to Select Colours?

So far, I’ve only tested Neocolor II by Caran d’Ache, and they are truly stunning, with 84 velvety shades that are a pleasure to use.

I think it’s better to buy around ten individual pastels, choosing colours you love (and making sure to include light, mid-tone, and dark shades), rather than a basic set with very classic colours. That said, some sets offer beautiful assortments, such as Beya Rebaï’s colour combinations or the anniversary palettes released in 2025.

Which Paper Should You Choose? 

Unlike watercolour, pastels work best on smooth paper. This allows for better coverage and more luminous colours.

If you use them with water, I recommend watercolour paper that can handle moisture well, with a weight of around 300 gsm. If you don’t use their water-soluble properties, a paper around 180 gsm is sufficient.

I’ve tested several papers and now mainly use Arches hot-pressed paper. However, I’m still researching alternatives because it’s very expensive and has a fairly pronounced cream tone. I love the look, but it requires more time during digitisation compared to more neutral papers.

Fabriano hot-pressed paper has no surface grain but some internal texture, which leaves small white areas visible. I use it for A4 and larger formats when I want a slightly textured result.

I also use Canson Bristol paper, which produces very luminous colours thanks to its ultra-white, cool, almost bluish tone.

When I want to activate pastels with water over large areas, I use Hahnemühle Expression cold-pressed paper.

Top to bottom: Canson Bristol paper, Arches hot-pressed paper, Hahnemühle Expression paper.

Sketchbooks

For sketchbooks, it’s very simple: the best value for money when using pastels purely as dry media (without water) is Art Creation sketchbooks by Royal Talens. They also have a slightly ivory tone.

I mainly use them for research and only on the right-hand pages, to avoid colour transfer that can happen when drawing on the front of a page. Some pastel artists use tracing paper or even baking paper to prevent transfer, as fixatives are never 100% effective—especially when applying a lot of pressure with pastels.

Other Materials

I use a very simple sharpener and my Princeton Neptune watercolour brushes, which I mention in my blog article on watercolour supplies, when I activate the pastels with water.

To create a clean border, I only use washi tape to protect the paper. It’s essential to use tape with low adhesion so it doesn’t tear the paper. Finally, I sometimes use a blending stump to soften transitions between areas without altering the colours.

What About Watercolour Pencils? 

They can be used in a similar way to watercolour pastels, but they also offer additional possibilities because they are more precise. This is another medium I explored during my project, and I’ll be sharing an article about it very soon!

All that’s left is to wish you some wonderful discoveries with these pastels—and feel free to ask me your questions in the comments!

Ondine