I’d been painting my pastel pictures on mountboard for many years, because when I started, it was the most satisfactory surface that I could find for my technique. In the meantime, many new surfaces had come onto the market, and in 2007 I thought it was try some of them out and see if any of them could help me produce better art.  This review covers five papers, all with quite different qualities.

MOUNTBOARD Heavyweight card backing with bonded coloured paper surface. Designed for matting pictures for framing; very smooth.. Readily available, huge range of colours. This was my ‘control’ for the tests. 25p/A4 Brand: Daler Rowney Studland (Wedgwood) PRIMED PAPER Paper coated with ‘toothy’ acrylic primer, specifically designed for pastel work, but can be used with other media. Available in a range of 16 fairly intense colours. £1/A4 Brand: Art Spectrum Colourfix (Sand) SANDED PAPER Paper coated with a fine abrasive grit, for pastel work. Only available in buff colour, but can be tinted with inks etc. £1/A4. Brand: Fisher 400 For further info & ordering click here PASTEL CARD Card coated with ground vegetable fibres, giving a fairly heavy abrasive surface which looks like sandpaper but is softer to the touch. In a range of attractive earthy colours. £1/A4. Brand: Sennelier Pastel Card (Olive) VELOUR PAPER A soft flocked paper which reminds me of Fuzzy Felt. Comes in a range of colours, both bright and earthy. 90p/A4 Brand: Hahnemule Pastell Velour (Sandy)

THE TESTS My work relies on a combination of blending and sharp detail.  I like to be able to mix colours on the paper to a certain extent, and I want the result to look realistic and natural. I made the same 9x12cm painting, which represents a section of a larger portrait, on each surface, using the same set of colours. I used pastel pencils for all the paintings, but underpainted in soft pastel sticks on the pastel card and velour paper. I scanned each picture on identical settings and have not adjusted them. To see close-ups, please click the illustrations.

MOUNTBOARD Feel - Smooth, workable surface Colour rendering - muted and tends to be influenced by background colour. Coverage - fairly poor: not achieved until second layer Blend with colour - very good, pigment easily pushed around. Blend with stump - Poor. Layering - fair, using pressure, but will not take more than 3 or 4 layers. Fine Detail - Very good Erasing - fairly poor, and cannot erase dark colours entirely. Difficult to obtain clean whites unless they are painted at the start and left alone. Responds well to variations of pressure & to colour mixing on the paper. Covering the background can be hard work in contrasting colour. Does not take soft pastels at all well. Accurate drawing & detailing very easy. Result is a realistic combination of soft and hard edges, but colours could sing more; they appear very dull compared to results on the other surfaces.. PRIMED Feel - Harsh and insensitive to pressure. Colour rendering - bright & saturated. Coverage - Excellent, very fast Blend with colour - Very poor Blend with stump - Poor Layering - Good, will take several layers Fine Detail - Poor Erasing - Excellent: plastic eraser will remove pigment cleanly without damage to surface. Good definition & clarity of colour, but almost impossible to obtain soft edges or blending, and very fine detail is difficult due to heavy tooth. Best for large areas of flat colour. Wears down pastels quite fast. Result looks overworked, too contrasty, and lacking textural variety. Not one for me. SANDED Feel - Slightly gritty but sensitive Colour rendering - Very good luminosity Coverage - Very good, smooth & fast Blend with colour - Tricky, but possible with a light touch Blend with stump - Very good Layering - Good, will take several layers Fine Detail - Excellent Erasing - Excellent: lifts off with Blu Tack Very pleasant surface to work on.  Low dust production, pastel pencils stayed sharp. Accurate drawing and fine details very easy.  I didn’t like the pale cream base colour but it covered easily with soft pastel blended with a stump or gloved fingers. I only had a tiny sample scrap to work on, which is why it’s so small! Result looks lifelike but I needed more practice at blending colours on this paper. I now use this paper almost exclusively as I feel it offers the best scope for rendering texture and colour. PASTEL CARD Feel - Very coarse, put my teeth on edge Colour rendering - Strong Coverage - Poor: looks as though it’s covered, then blow the dust off and it becomes patchy. Needs soft pastel undercoat or pastel pencils won’t take. Blend with colour - Good Blend with stump - Good Layering - Good Fine Detail - Very poor Erasing - Not possible: surface lifts even with gentle dabbing with Blu Tack Disappointed with this one, as I loved the colour range, but it was so unpleasant to work on I wouldn’t use it again. Very wasteful as it grinds the pastels down & produces a lot of dust. Fine detail very difficult because of large grains. Result looks patchy and clumsy.  The spot in the centre is from when I inadvertently blew a bit of spit onto it (sorry!) - the grains came straight off the paper & it was impossible to repair. VELOUR Feel - Pleasant: soft and smooth Colour rendering - Slightly muted, influenced by background colour. Difficult to achieve darks. Coverage - Patchy, needs underpainting with soft pastel sticks first. Blend with colour - Excellent Blend with stump - Ineffective Layering - Poor: tends to blend too easily with underlying colour. Fine Detail - Poor Erasing - Not possible The velour was lovely to work on, the pastels just glided over it, and it produced virtually no dust. The pastel pencils were too hard to take well on it, and the surface did not lend itself to sharp edges or detail. Colours blended really easily. Result looks soft-focus and lacks textural variety.  I would like to explore this surface further to see what can be achieved with softer pastels I discovered a couple of drawbacks with the velour that concerned me.  One was that it attracted fluff and dog hairs which stuck to the unpainted areas. I also noticed the pastel fell off very easily: the scan to the right was made after I gave it a few sharp taps: the painting is significantly degraded.  I did a further test where I coated the paper with pastel and then sprayed with fixative, but it still lost a visible amount of pigment when tapped.

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