And just in case you’ve heard the rumors about pigment dust when you draw on sanded papers, it’s true. But you probably haven’t heard that you can use a bristle brush to push that dust into the tooth of the paper so it’s not wasted! I’ve used Uart 400 mostly, it is a pretty aggressive tooth though and can be hard to fill, I’m thinking of buying a sheet or two of the 500 and 600 grits to see if I like them better. I’ve also used Colorfix which has tooth maybe even a little more aggressive than Uart 400 but it’s an irregular texture unlike Uart which has a more regular texture that looks a bit like canvas. Both Uart and Colorfix can take wet washes for underpaintings. Another option is Ampersand Pastelbord, but since it’s a panel it’s on the expensive side but I like it. A lot of people like Canson MiTientes which is very cheap and readily available, but it is just paper with an inlaid texture, it can’t take washes or take many layers of pastel. I personally haven’t been able to make Canson work for me but there are plenty of others that swear by it. There’s also the option of making your own using gesso mixed with pumice or marble dust which you can apply to any surface you want to use. I love the look of soft pastels, but I HATE the feel of them on my hands. I can’t work with them. Colored pencils over pan pastels on sanded paper look nearly identical though! I prefer Polychromos for softer blending. Higher wax content pencils aren’t as soft to blend out. These will mix with a pan pastel base layer and allow you to get fine detail with your pan pastel work! I use my higher wax content pencils like Caran d’Ache Luminance over areas I don’t want to smudge out as much. In this one I used a white Caran d’Ache Pablo for smaller detail. Tip #7 Contrast

Since the main reason to even think about using hardware store sandpaper is the cost of pastel papers (and especially the sanded pastel papers), here are a few other tips. The kinds of surfaces suitable for colored pencil are nearly endless. If a surface will accept dry media of any kind, it will work for colored pencil, often with a minimum of preparation. Granted, it will take a lot more layers to get fine detail if that’s what you’re after and you may find the extra layers not to be worth the trouble. Soft pastels are a tremendously fun method of drawing and painting. While the medium adheres on various different surfaces, a thing to consider is the convenience and compatibility of it all. Most pastel artists eventually want to test their painting skills on things that are meant to be drawn on by pastels and soft pastels.Coated papers that are coarse to the touch do not necessarily hold more colour than a surface that feels softer; while the feel of a conventional sandpaper is very similar to some sanded pastel papers, it is not guaranteed to have the same pastel holding qualities, and would not be archival. Sanded pastel papers aren’t usually made with any sand – the name refers to the feel of the surface and refers to pastel paper that grabs colour as you apply strokes of pastel to it. Most local stores would be able to help you with just what you are looking for if you’re constrained by a tight budget. The coating is resistant to small amounts of water and alcohol and it’s not advised to scrub water into the surface. Artists can use mixed media on this paper, but Pastelmat is more suited to working with mixed media. This paper has more tooth than Pastelmat, you don’t need to apply much pressure at all for the colour to be released onto the paper. This means fewer layers are required to build colours and achieve vibrant, rich effects. Sennelier Pastel Card

The most convenient for me are the small pads that are roughly 7×9 inches in size. That’s more than big enough for the majority of my work, which is 6×8. Pastelmat pads are available in single colors and in assortments. My favorites are earth tones and grays. You are more than welcome to try out the things for yourself before settling for any of these products as there is a factor of getting used to a particular type of paper and texture.They are not good to breathe so set up an area outside if you can and spray in that. I like to use a cardboard box.

The sandpaper surface worked very well for the trees and grass, but I wasn’t impressed with it when I tried to put down thin, even layers of color. After working on it for over half an hour, I did some burnishing in the sky and that worked fairly well, but wasn’t satisfactory. My current favorite sanded paper is Uart, though I still love Colourfix for its many colors. I’m a papers and textures nut. Both pastels and surfaces I like to try everything at least once and understan how it handles, then use it when I want that effect. Coarse is great for mad, mad layering. Fine grits are pleasant and allow more layering while also allowing finer small details. Coated papers like PastelMat are also a joy. Velour papers like Hahnemühle Velour have a soft velvety feel to them. They are the most expensive type of paper. It’s a wonderfully unique paper, that has the softest texture. If you want to create out of focus effects and be suggestive with textures, velour would be a great option. Sanded papers like Pastelmat shine in their ability to accommodate sharp details, but with velour paper, artworks will look soft in appearance. The nature of the chalk sliding off with each stroke is perfectly compatible with textured surfaces or sanded textured surfaces. The rougher and grittier the finish of the paper, the more substance you are able to see with each stroke of your soft pastel. Larger makes bigger prints. I don’t recommend making prints any larger than the artwork, even if you take a photo with a camera that gets a huge file size. Artwork doesn’t looks good blown up larger. If your artwork is larger, you can print large or small and the prints will look good. Smaller art limits your print size.This type of paper, although cheaper, won’t take as many layers of pastel as readily as other textures like sanded surfaces. The ridges in the paper texture will show through after multiple layers, so it’s difficult to achieve a smooth finish with pastels alone. To blend pigment into the texture of the paper, to cover up the ridges and achieve a smoother finish, you will need to use additional blending tools, such as tortillions, sponges or dedicated blending tools like Sofft tools made by PanPastel.