No medium is complete without the correct surface, however – and none more so than pastel. Apply pastel to the wrong paper and even the slightest touch will smear the delicate pigment everywhere. I do believe that this is the reason so many people consider pastels to be messy. Marry your purely pigmented little friend to the correct surface though, and magic happens!
Just when you thought you have tried out all types of pastel paper, along comes a new one that promises to be better. I have heard much about Clairefontaine’s Pastelmat paper, but I was a little sceptical. After all good pastel paper is plentiful. Would Pastelmat offer something different? Keep reading to find out plus check out the video review below.
Pastels are a wonderful medium to work with. You only need to look at Degas’s sublime use of pastels in his ballerina paintings. You can work them delicately or with boldness and the colour is always powerful. The pure pigment in artist’s quality pastels is a pleasure to behold. It is a pity then to use poor quality paper on which to paint. I have tried many papers over the years of varying quality. Recently I tried out two pastel pads from Canson. Their Mi-Teintes pastel paper pads and Touch pads.
Its fair to say I’ve fallen for pastels hook, line and sinker. I do believe we each have a medium that is meant for us. From the moment I first put this medium to paper I knew I had found ‘my’ medium, the medium that finally magically set my inner-artist free. Pastels are renowned for being bright and intensely pigmented, easy to use and popular in many genres.
Recently I had the opportunity to chat with well-known Equine and Wildlife Artist Graham Kearney. I confess to being more than a little starstruck as I have been following his career for close on 7 or 8 years and have always been in awe of his work.
