Every colour. All 84 of them. The Neocolor II Tin of 84 is the complete range in one flat metal tin, and it is the closest thing to a cheat code in mixed media. Why mix a colour when you can just pick it up? Draw bold and creamy dry, melt it into watercolour with water, and never again say "I wish I had a…" halfway through a piece.

What You Get in the Tin of 84

The full Neocolor II range covers the brights you expect plus the subtle colours you do not get in smaller tins: soft greys, deep earths, gentle skin tones and metallics. For illustrators and mixed media artists that means less mixing, cleaner colour and faster work.

It is the same professional Neocolor II in every stick: high pigment content, excellent lightfastness, strong covering power and a wax that leaves no dust. If you want the full range in a presentation box instead of a tin, look at the Wooden Box of 84.

The Caran d'Ache Difference: Swiss Made Since 1915

Here is the thing about Caran d'Ache. They have been making drawing tools in Geneva for more than a century, and they still do it the slow way, in their own Swiss workshops at Thônex just outside the city. Not outsourced, not rebadged, not made wherever is cheapest this year. When the tin says Swiss Made, it means the pigment, the wax and the stick were all made by people who have been perfecting this exact thing for generations.

It is still a family company too. The Hübscher family has been at the helm since the 1930s, and today Carole Hübscher leads as the fourth generation. That is why the quality does not wobble from one batch to the next. A Neocolor II stick you buy today behaves exactly like the one your art teacher handed you years ago.

Caran d'Ache also has form for inventing the things the rest of the art world copies. They launched Prismalo in 1931, the world's first watercolour pencil, and turned their Neocolor wax pastel water soluble in 1972. Neocolor II is the original, which is why so many imitations get compared to it and so few come close. We have stocked Caran d'Ache at Art Shed Brisbane for years, and it is one of those brands our team actually buys for themselves.

Why Artists Keep Coming Back to Neocolor II

• Two mediums in one stick. A bold, creamy pastel when dry and a luminous watercolour the moment water touches it. Fewer tools to carry, more ways to work.
• No dust, no mess. Wax based, so nothing to breathe in, nothing to fix, nothing smudging across your desk.
• Works on almost anything. Paper, cardboard, wood, glass, fabric, leather and stone. Journals, rocks, windows, mixed media.
• Pigment that pulls its weight. High pigment content means real covering power, so light colours sit over dark and washes stay bright.
• The original water soluble wax pastel. Neocolor II has been on art school kit lists since 1972. Everything else is the copy.
• Made to last. Excellent lightfastness and a stick tough enough to survive a school pencil case, so your work and your tin both go the distance.

Working with the Full Neocolor II Range

Choose the exact colour rather than mixing it, then use water to glaze one colour over another for depth. A dry layer under a transparent wash gives effects you cannot get any other way.

Try the rainbow technique: hold several sticks together, draw one stroke, then brush water through for a seamless gradient.

Pair it with a 300gsm watercolour paper for wet work and a Caran d'Ache water brush for painting straight from the stick.

Browse the rest of our pastel sets, everything in pastels, or the full Caran d'Ache range.

Questions About the Caran d'Ache Neocolor II Tin of 84