50 Years of Colourful Creativity:

Celebrating Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle Wax Pastels

This year, we celebrate 50 vibrant years of the Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle Wax Pastel—a ground-breaking tool that has inspired generations of artists, designers, students, and creatives across the world. Since its debut in 1975, Neocolor II has transformed how we think about pastels and watercolour, opening up endless possibilities for artistic expression.

At ARTdiscount, we are proud to champion high-quality, professional-grade materials that elevate creativity for all skill levels—and Caran d’Ache continues to be a shining example of excellence in both craftsmanship and innovation.

Here’s to five decades of colour and imagination—and many more to come!

A Revolutionary Pastel with a Watercolour Soul

What makes the Neocolor II Aquarelle Wax Pastel  so special? It’s more than a pastel—it’s a bridge between drawing and painting, combining the bold, smooth application of a wax crayon with the magic of watercolour.

These pastels are:

• Highly pigmented for intense, lightfast colour.
  

• Soft and blendable, ideal for layering and shading.
  

• Water-soluble, transforming effortlessly with a wet brush.
  

• Versatile, suitable for paper, card, canvas, wood, and more.

• Can be used on white or coloured paper.

How to use Neocolor II:

• Dry: Sketch, shade, or layer with a creamy, crayon-like consistency.
  

• Wet: Add water with a brush for painterly washes, gradients, or blending.
  

• Mixed Media: Combine with ink, coloured pencils, or collage for experimental artwork.

From children’s imaginative drawings, scrapbooking to fine art illustration, Neocolor II invites users of every age and ability to explore colour fearlessly.

Why Artists Trust Caran d’Ache

Founded in Geneva in 1915, Caran d’Ache has long been synonymous with quality, sustainability, and innovation. Their materials are Swiss-made using responsibly sourced pigments and processes, ensuring both environmental care and unmatched performance.

Celebrate with Us!

As we honour 50 years of Neocolor II, we invite you to join the celebration by exploring our Caran d’Ache range at ARTdiscount. Discover tools that ignite creativity, reward exploration, and deliver brilliant results—whatever your age, interest, or artistic journey.

At ARTdiscount, we stock a wide selection of Caran d’Ache products that reflect this commitment to excellence:

Press this link to explore more  Caran d’Ache Classics at ARTdiscount

 

 

Caran d’Ache Neoart 6901 Wax Oil Pastels:

 Caran d’Ache NEOART™ 6901 is a premium wax and oil pastel offering intense colour, exceptional lightfastness, and a uniquely smooth texture. Designed for professionals and passionate creatives, it delivers vibrant, long-lasting results on paper, canvas, wood, and more.

 

Caran d’Ache Gouache Studio Paint Sets: Creamy, vibrant paints that deliver rich, opaque colour straight from the tube—ideal for learners and seasoned painters alike. This high-quality, water-based gouache features a natural plant-based binder with no plasticiser, ensuring a smooth, eco-friendly painting experience.

 

Caran d'Ache Prismalo Aquarelle Pencils - Set of 18 Prismalo pencils are preferred by artists and creative professionals, architects, graphic designers and illustrators around the world. Prismalo has a slightly harder core than the Supracolor pencils. Contains 18 water-soluble coloured pencils with fine and hard, extremely break-resistant lead with a diameter of 2.95mm for precise, detailed drawing. Enclosed in a hexagonal body manufactured from FSC certified cedar wood with colour number indicated. Extraordinary lightfastness and a high pigment concentration.

 

Pablo Coloured Pencils - Set of 40: Lightfast and buttery-smooth, perfect for precision work, illustrations, and layering. Designed for artists and design enthusiasts, Pablo permanent pencils match the superior quality required for colour drawings, while the precision of Pablo leads is ideally suited to realist drawing. The dry, water-resistant 3.8 mm diameter leads are based on a formula ensuring exceptionally high covering power and creating no powder whatsoever

 

Museum Aquarelle Pencils: Landscape - Colours - set of 20 Museum-quality watercolour pencils for serious artists seeking depth, softness, and superior wash capabilities. For the first time ever, with Museum Aquarelle, Caran d'Ache offers professional artists the possibility of wielding a pencil with the strength and effects of genuine watercolour. This fantastic medium is perfect for works intended for exhibition, collection and museum purposes.

 

Caran d'Ache Graphite Line Gift Box: A beautiful box set. Explore the various graphite graduations in this selection of high quality Swiss made sketching materials. Suitable for hatching, expressive shading, writing, technical and artistic design. A thoughtful gift for anyone with a creative side

 

Caran d'Ache Supracolor Soft Aquarelle Pencils - Set of 30 For soft, yet colourful creativity.  Caran d'Ache Supracolor are pencils to satisfy both amateur and professional artists, illustrators, graphic designers and teachers thanks to the soft pigment range in both dry and water-soluble pencils. Professional-grade pencils that offer the detail of a pencil with the fluidity of watercolour. The soft, water-soluble 3.8 mm diameter leads are extremely break resistant and create clean and accurate lines. Artists can rely on the exemplary lightfastness of the leads and their high pigment concentration

 

 

Close up images of the deeply pigmented Caran d’Ache Supracolor Soft Aquarelle Pencils.

The Caran d’Ache Supracolor Soft Aquarelle Pencils are suitable for all kinds of design work, illustrations and colour work. Their soft pigmented core glides on the paper with no resistance enabling some beautifully smooth colour overlays.

Caran d'Ache Dry Pastel Pencils - Set of 12 To meet the needs of today's pastel artist as fully as possible, Caran D’Ache, expert manufacturer of pastels since 1952 offers an exceptional range of pastels pencils. The 12 pencils contained in this set are encased in rounded hexagonal FSC certified cedar wood, and offer a high pigment concentration. Ideal superimposed for blurred effects, transparency and subtle colour blends.

 

Caran d'Ache LUMINANCE 6901® Artists' Colouring Pencils - Set of 12 The creaminess of a permanent lead combined with unbeatable light resistance these sets of Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 pencils offer excellence for the most demanding artists, designers, architects, artistic directors, etc.  Available in sets of 12, 20, and 40 in a range of balanced colours with high pigment concentration. Recommended for mixing and shading, working blends or for shading and rubbing with the white pencil and blending fluid.

 

Creativity for Everyone, Everywhere

One of the most inspiring aspects of Caran d’Ache is its universal appeal. Whether you're:

• A young artist experimenting with colour for the first time,
  
  

• A student learning the foundations of design and technique,
  
  

• A hobbyist enjoying mindful creativity at home,
  
  

• Or a professional crafting illustrations or fine art pieces .
  
  

Caran d’Ache products are made to support, inspire, and endure. Their tools are intuitive, beautifully designed, and capable of growing with your skills.

Each of these products exemplifies the Caran d’Ache standard: long-lasting materials, environmentally responsible manufacturing, and the ability to support creativity from childhood through professional practice.

Mixed media piece using Caran d’Ache Neocolor crayons, Inktense pencils and a white gel fine liner. 

Clarification on the two aquarelle pencils; Prismalo Aquarelle and Supracolor Soft Aquarelle pencils.

Both  Prismalo  Aquarelle and Supracolor Soft Aquarelle pencils are made by Caran d’Ache, and both are water-soluble coloured pencils, but they differ in several important ways—especially in terms of core softness, intended use, and versatility.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison to highlight the key differences:

 

In Summary:

• Prismalo Aquarelle is perfect for precise line work, cross-hatching, and intricate illustrations, thanks to its harder core and crisp application. It’s great for adding fine detail to watercolour paintings or sketchbooks.
  
  

• Supracolor Soft Aquarelle is better suited to expressive colour work, layering, and painterly effects, thanks to its soft, creamy core and rich pigmentation. It’s a favourite among watercolour artists and illustrators who want versatility between dry and wet techniques.
  
  

Both ranges are of exceptional Swiss quality, lightfast, and made with sustainability and artist safety in mind.

We hope this blog will inspire you to try the Caran d’Ache range of amazing products. Please share your work with us on our social media page #colouringthenation #artdiscountofficial