Review and ranking: 7 different sanded papers for pastels

In this post, I thought I would do a review and ranking of 7 different types of sanded paper. For pastel painters, sanded paper is the best surface as the treated surface allows for lots of layering. However, sanded paper is very expensive compared to regular art paper, so instead of spending a lot for one pad and finding out that I didn't like it, I bought a sampler pack from Jackson's Art which allowed me to try the 7 most popular sanded surfaces.

The 7 sheets included in the pack are: 

• Canson Mi-Teintes Touch Pastel Paper 335gsm
• Clairefontaine Pastelmat Pastel Paper 360gsm
• Art Spectrum Colourfix Pastel Paper 300gsm
• Tim Fisher 400 Art Pastel Paper 360gsm
• Sennelier Soft Pastel Card 360gsm
• UART Sanded Pastel Paper 500 Grade
• Hahnemuhle Velour Pastel Paper 260gsm

I have since used up all the sheets and I've mentioned my thoughts on some of them in individual posts, but this is a consolidated post of all of them, ranking from the one I liked least to my favourite.

7) Flanking the rear is the Sennelier Soft Pastel Card. The reason this is my least favourite surface is that it's simply too rough. Using your fingers to blend on this surface feels like you're sanding your fingerprints away. Because of the coarseness, it eats up your pastels and creates a lot of dust. Furthermore, it doesn't take any form of liquids at all - I sprayed fixative on it with disastrous results! I drew an eagle on this, you can read the full review.

6) Next from the bottom is Art Spectrum Colourfix Pastel Paper. Actually, it's not that I dislike this paper, just that I prefer some of the others. It's a lot smoother than the Sennelier Soft Pastel Card and it does take layers, though not as many as others. Considering that its price point is similar to most of the other papers, I feel there are better choices for your money. The advantage of this paper is that it comes in a lot of different colours. I drew a friend's cat on this paper.

5) Next is Canson Mi-Teintes Touch Pastel Paper and I have to say this one is very close to the Art Spectrum Colourfix in texture and performance. I give it a slight edge because I find it slightly easier to blend on this paper. It also comes in a range of colours. I attempted my first pastel painting of water on this paper.

4) Right in the middle of the pack is Hahnemuhle Velour Pastel Paper. This is the most unusual surface of the 7 papers - it's furry and feels like velvet! What I love about it is that it gives animal drawings a very soft look, great for emulating the texture of fur. The reason it doesn't rank higher is that making this surface work takes practice. It works best with very soft pastels, while making marks with harder pastels like pastel pencils can be challenging. You also need to press the pigment into the paper well or they can fall off when you shake the paper, which is relatively thinner and therefore more floppy.

I drew a lion and lamb on this paper and I love the final effect.

3) Coming in third place is Clairefontaine Pastelmat Pastel Paper, possibly the most popular surface among pastel artists. It has many things going for it - it's smooth to the touch so is kind to fingers, yet can somehow take many, many layers. It's a very forgiving paper. if you make a mistake, you can simply layer more pastels over it. 

I've since drawn many pictures on Pastelmat because it's one of the few sanded papers available in Singapore. Here's a recent one - a rare landscape piece.

2) The runner-up position goes to UART 500 Sanded Pastel Paper. I find it similar to Pastelmat in the number of layers it takes, but the reason it edges out Pastelmat is that you can erase on it. That makes it more versatile as I don't have to worry about pencil marks.

I drew a tiger cub on this. Blending out the background was a cinch. I wrote an in-depth post comparing Pastelmat and UART 500. 

 

1) And finally, I give the champion's trophy to...Tim Fisher 400 Art Pastel Paper! This paper is perfect in my books. Colours pop on it, blends like a dream without being smudgy, and it creates VERY little dust. I ♥ this paper so much, it breaks my heart that it's unavailable in Singapore. On Jackson's Art, it only comes in very large sheets, which makes shipping unfeasible. I'm seriously considering buying more sample packs just so I can get to paint on this surface again.

Here's the squirrel painting I did on this paper.

And that's my personal ranking on the 7 types of sanded paper. Apart from the Sennelier Pastel Card, I would be happy painting on any of them, actually. You can buy the sampler pack from Jackson's Art. If you use this referral link, I'll get a few points. 

If you find sanded paper too expensive for you, you might be interested in non-sanded paper alternatives that work for pastels.