I’ll be honest: when I first picked up a water soluable wax pastel, I didn’t know what to expect. I’d been sketching and painting for years, but this strange hybrid between a crayon and watercolor felt like uncharted territory.
Turns out, they’re surprisingly versatile – and a lot more forgiving than traditional watercolor if you like to work fast or experiment in your sketchbook.
If you’re coming from watercolor, these wax pastels will feel familiar in some ways, but looser and creamier in others. They can be used dry like a colored pencil or activated with water to blend, spread, and create layered washes. If you're looking for something playful, expressive, and easy to take on the go, water soluable wax pastel is worth exploring.
What makes them ideal for beginners is how approachable they are. There’s no setup. No palette. You can just grab a pastel, draw on paper, and add water.
Unlike watercolor paints, where color mixing and water ratios can feel overwhelming at first, wax pastels give you more control. You see what you're doing as you go, and if something goes sideways, you can often fix it by adding more water or layering.
Whether you're adding them into your existing kit or starting fresh, I’ll share what I’ve learned about how to use them, what to expect, and where they really shine.
Key points before diving in
- Test out your pastels dry and with water to learn how the pigment moves and reacts.
- Use sturdy paper, like a good watercolor sketchbook, to avoid buckling or pilling.
- Layer dry over wet for texture, or wet over dry for rich washes and gradients.
What is a water soluable wax pastel?
Despite the mouthful of a name, a water soluable wax pastel is essentially a soft, crayon-like stick of pigment that dissolves when water is added. Unlike oil pastels, which repel water, these react beautifully with a wet brush. They’re typically made with a binder that allows water to break down the pigment and move it across the page.
My favorite thing about them is how flexible they are. I can sketch quickly with dry pigment, then run a brush across it to create a watercolor-like wash. It’s somewhere between drawing and painting—great for travel sketching or working outdoors.
Popular brands like Caran d'Ache Neocolor II have a buttery feel and dense pigment load, making them easy to blend and build up. You can find single sticks or sets, and they’re compact enough to toss into your bag without hauling an entire paint kit.
If you're brand new to art supplies, these are far less intimidating than tubes of paint. The learning curve is minimal, and you get immediate results. That kind of early success can be super motivating.
How to use water soluable wax pastel in your sketchbook
When I’m using these pastels, I usually start with a dry sketch—either line work or blocking in color—and then add water with a brush. You can also touch a wet brush directly to the tip of the pastel to pick up pigment like you would with traditional watercolor.
Techniques to try
- Dry-on-dry: Draw directly onto dry paper. This gives you bold marks and nice textures. Great for adding detail or contrast.
- Dry-on-wet: Wet the paper first, then draw with the pastel. This softens the pigment immediately and gives you loose, unpredictable textures. Good for backgrounds or atmospheric effects.
- Wet-on-dry: Draw on dry paper and then go over it with a wet brush. This is the most controlled technique and works well for beginners.
- Wet-on-wet: Pick up pigment from the pastel with a wet brush and paint onto wet paper. This gives you dreamy washes but can be harder to control.
I recommend trying each method on a single sheet of paper and labeling them. You’ll quickly get a feel for how different techniques behave. This is a low-pressure way to learn—no need to make a perfect sketch.
It’s worth experimenting with different textures of paper too. A hot press watercolor sketchbook will give you smooth blending, while cold press or rough papers add more texture.
What kind of paper and tape to use
Because you’re adding water, you’ll want paper that can handle it without turning to mush. I’ve had the best luck using 100% cotton watercolor paper or a heavyweight sketch pad for watercolor.
If you use thin or standard drawing paper, the water will buckle it or cause it to tear. It also won’t hold the pigment well, which means your colors may look washed out.
If you're working with more water or layering heavily, tape down the edges with masking tape for watercolor or learn how to flatten a watercolor painting after it's dry. Taping also gives you a clean white border, which makes even casual sketches look polished.
Where water soluable wax pastels really shine
They’re ideal for:
- On-location sketching. You don’t need a palette—just a brush and water.
- Mixed media. They pair beautifully with ink, graphite, or even ink and wash watercolor.
- Color studies. The fast activation lets you test combinations without fully committing to a painting.
- Kids and beginners. They're fun, forgiving, and easy to use without a steep learning curve.
I also love using them when I’m figuring out how to make watercolor skin tone or layering over dry watercolor backgrounds. The opacity of dry pastel marks helps you bring back highlights or draw over top of lighter layers.
Should you blend colors or layer them?
This depends on the effect you want. You can easily blend by overlapping strokes and activating them with water. But layering dry pigment over a wet area gives a gritty, textured look that’s closer to colored pencil. The key is learning when to stop so things don't get muddy.
To build confidence with your color choices, I recommend making a color mixing chart for watercolor and doing the same with your pastels. Swatch them out both dry and wet so you know what to expect.
It helps to think of them like watercolor in stick form. You can mix directly on the page, but also pre-mix a palette by touching a wet brush to the pastel. If you’re new to mixing color, check out this color theory page from the Smithsonian to get the basics down.
My favorite tips for working with wax pastels
- Keep a scrap paper next to you to test water activation and blending.
- Don’t overwork the pigment; let it sit and dry before adding more.
- Use a waterbrush for quick travel sketching—it’s a game changer.
- Start small. Fill a page with simple objects: fruit, mugs, plants, shadows. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s just learning what the tool can do.
If you're curious about adding more mixed media tools to your setup, I've written more about watercolor pastels and how they compare.