Caran d’Ache Neocolor I wax pastel
New tools always confound me. Even the smallest changes can negatively impact experience and performance. A different surface, a different medium, the lighting, the relocation of or distance from the model. … even if the change is sought out, it can require an adjustment period.
I wanted to bring color to the life room but didn’t want to deal with the soft greasy mess of oil pastels or the dusty byproduct of the soft pastels I’ve always been fond of. (Now that I think about it, Covid time would have been the perfect time to be blowing or brushing cadmium red particulate all over the place; but we’re maskless these days, so…) I’m not lazy, per se (yes I am), but I’m not in the habit of painting, especially transporting, setting up, putting away, etcetera, all of the painting things. So, I reached for … wax crayons.
Having recently come across George Pratt’s high praise for the Caran d’Ache Neocolor wax pastels as a sensitive drawing instrument, I thought, “What could go wrong?”
The blunt instrument that is the wax crayon offers none of the precision provided by the well-pointed pencil. It forces you to skip getting lost in the details, which is great for gesture. Of course, the crayon can be sharpened to somewhat of a point, but that point won’t last long. I took Pratt’s recommendation for pointing them with the “jumbo” sharpener inside the Faber Castell Grip Trio sharpener.
The wax crayon may as well be an ink pen—its marks will not be erased, so mark making needs to be done purposefully, with the same strategic notions in mind as one would have working with ink. I’m fond of erasure and obliteration, but my old pal, Frank, suggests simply drawing a second line if you don’t like the first; the two lines will average out to the “correct” line. A line that overshoots might be worked into the background, a line a little too far in might suggest a plane break along the edge of the form.
The Caran d’Ache Neocolor crayons offer more colors than I have at my disposal—I tentatively chose the 10-color set; but they offer a 15-color, as well as more extensive 30-color and 40-color sets, as well as a tin of 10 metallic crayons. Having more color options might be nice (might be nightmarish for the indecisive), but limited resources force creative solutions, right?
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