Experimenting with pastels

 

I've started taking a pastel class, and so at home I've been experimenting with different papers and techniques to see which I like best. 

 So far I've tried Sennelier La Carte paper, it's a nice heavy paper, and comes in a variety of nice colors, but the surface coating will desolve if wet, just a drop of water will ruin it.  

I have a little pad of Sennelier "l'Esprit du Pastel". It's a nice little spiral pad with a sheet of glassine between each page, but the lined texture is a bit distracting for me.  As an experiment, I tried coating it with some Golden Acrylic ground for pastels.  This is a thick solution that dries clear, containing a fine grit that you can brush on any surface to give it a sanded texture.  I liked working on this paper better with the ground applied. 

I also tried Colorfix sanded paper,  lots of nice colors, it can be used with wet techniques, and the texture holds the pastel nicely.  

Mi-Tientes Touch paper has a texture I don't care for, but comes in many colors just like the Canson Mi-tientes paper, which I like, I prefer the smoother side to work on.  

Uart sanded paper is the one I like best so far, I used a wash of red pastel wet with water and a brush, and when dry drew over it, that worked out nicely.  It only comes in one color, a light sand color, but it's possible to tone it yourself any color you want, and comes in many different 'grits' I tried the 400, 600, and 800, they are all nice to work on.

The pastels I've been using are a collection I've acquired over the years of Rembrandt, and Sennelier soft pastels, NuPastel sticks, CarbOthello, and Conte pastel pencils.

I'm no expert, but thought I would share my opinions, I hope you might find it helpful:)

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