Pastel paper question

[MurrayG]

Hi Folks, I am back in the city for a few days and am stocking up a little.
Has anyone used or tried Sennelier pastel card (sanded card) with soft pastels - what was it like? Can you rub off the extra sandy surface a little - or how does it compare to Uart, not that I have used Uart cos I cannot get it I also bought 1 sheet of a velour paper - any thoughts or tips on how they handle soft pastels.
Thanks.

 

[Donna T]

I didn't even know Sennelier made a pastel card, Murray, so I hope someone else can help with that. I tried velour once. I wasn't a fan of the overall fuzzy appearance of my finished work but it was probably a landscape. Maybe it's a better choice for other subjects.

 

[Jo Castillo]

I tried Sennelier at least 15 years ago and it did not take a wet under painting, I think I tried alcohol. It disintegrated. It has probably been updated. Velour takes a special touch. I think most folks use it for animal paintings. I found you had to be pretty precise, can't rub it off like sanded paper for changes. My favorite surfaces are Colourfix by Art Spectrum and Pastelbord. I use MiTeintes, smooth side, for practice and sketching as it is very inexpensive. It is good, just doesn't take many layers. Comes in lots of colors. Paper can fade if you don't cover the entire surface. Daniel Greene if you ever heard of him, master pastelist, used MiTeintes for his portraits.

 

[MurrayG]

Hi Donna and Jo, thanks. I will try the velour as an experiment. I normally use Canson MT as it seems to be the only one I can get in a reasonable size anywhere without buying online. I have Pastelmat in a small pad that I like. OK, I will try the Sennelier just to have a sense of sanded papers even it seems quite "sandy"

 

[ColorEnthusiast]

I tried Sennelier pastel card and wasn't very thrilled. Very gritty, it ate up my pastel sticks very quickly and it must not be touched by anything wet or it will disintegrate at once (I had some bad experiences with a few drops of water).
I was very happy when I found PastelMat because it takes wet underpaintings without complaining. I tried Uart only lately, because Uart is difficult to get here too. I found Uart much better than pastel card, you can do wet underpaintings, it is smoother than pastel card. It is also different to PastelMat but I like it equally, blending is easier the first layers on Uart than on PastelMat.

 

[MurrayG]

I tried Sennelier pastel card and wasn't very thrilled. Very gritty, it ate up my pastel sticks very quickly and it must not be touched by anything wet or it will disintegrate at once (I had some bad experiences with a few drops of water).
I was very happy when I found PastelMat because it takes wet underpaintings without complaining. I tried Uart only lately, because Uart is difficult to get here too. I found Uart much better than pastel card, you can do wet underpaintings, it is smoother than pastel card. It is also different to PastelMat but I like it equally, blending is easier the first layers on Uart than on PastelMat.

Thanks Ester, very useful

 

[MurrayG]

OK. For those that are interested, I cam across a professional pastel artist, Peter Barker who prefers Sennelier Pastel Card. His Quote....

After much experimentation, I have found that a light rub over the surface with a fine sandpaper before painting takes off the somewhat coarse grit without any loss of 'tooth' and 'grabability'! The card will also take fairly vigorous scrubbing with an old hog's bristle brush to remove any pigment, again without any loss of tooth and will also take plenty of finger-blending without loss of flesh.

He does note that it does not take getting wet. His pastel art is stunning, so I guess, I can at least aspire to improve and try this card.

 

[Bartc]

Pastelmat for me, hands down! And you CAN order them in large sheets that you cut to your own sizes. Only complaint I have is that they are sized in centimeters to not quite the US/UK inches dimensions that are standard. But once you cut your own, it's not an issue. For example, their pads that approximate 9x12" are actually 9.5x11.5" and so forth. I recently bought some 19.5x27.5" sheets and they cut fine. There is at least one size larger you can buy too. That includes all the colors. Pastelmat acts very similar to sanded papers, but it's not sanded (UART may take more layers), and it is one of the very few that holds up perfectly to any wet underpainting.

 

[MurrayG]

Pastelmat for me, hands down! And you CAN order them in large sheets that you cut to your own sizes. Only complaint I have is that they are sized in centimeters to not quite the US/UK inches dimensions that are standard. But once you cut your own, it's not an issue. For example, their pads that approximate 9x12" are actually 9.5x11.5" and so forth. I recently bought some 19.5x27.5" sheets and they cut fine. There is at least one size larger you can buy too. That includes all the colors. Pastelmat acts very similar to sanded papers, but it's not sanded (UART may take more layers), and it is one of the very few that holds up perfectly to any wet underpainting.

Thanks Bart. Yes I have tried the pastelmat and it worked well. Thanks fr the tip.

 

[Marksmomagain]

I use them all. What I use in a particular work is dependent upon the subject and the effect I'm after.

 

[sundiver]

The surface of LaCarte is a vegetable material and will slide off the surface if it gets wet. Alcohol washes can be ok if not rubbed around. Since I switched to oil pastels I find using them on LaCarte kind of like coloring on toast.