The 8 Best papers for Pastel pencil (2023 reviews)

The paper is a must have accessory for your daily purpose. Pastelmat is really unique and excellent for both colored pencils and pastels. It allows for rich color development in both pastels and colored pencils. It has a slightly gritty, very slight, surface but does not eat pencils like the sanded boards do. It can be trimmed down so it's not a total waste. It is waterproof so if you want to use a brush and pencil powder blender for your colored pencil paintings you can and it works great.

It is suitable for all dry techniques, lead, sanguine, charcoal and more. There are some folds and wrinkles on the edges of the pad. It is also true that it grabs the pastel in such a way that it doesn’t blend well, but it is great in holding multiple pastel layers.

Why We Like This:

Come in different colors and also it is more readily (quickly) available
Takes a lot of punishment and holds up without tearing
Good brand reputation

Best with some mixed media: Strathmore Paper for Pastel pencil

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There are different kinds of gritted and colored papers in this set, each made for different moods of paintings you want to make. It works well for oil pastels as well as pastel solids/drew pics with both products/excellent texture and weight. The lightly coloured ground makes it possible to use less pastel to achieve a uniform background colour, allowing more direct colour layering in the painting.

The surface is like a textured paper towel, even with using paper stumps, you cannot seem to lay down enough pigment to cover all the white peaking through. It is allows for mixing colors well and the paper is textured keeping all the color in. It comes in a variety of shades, from white and cream to taupe and grey. There are different colored pages through out the pad. This is great paper for pastels or charcoal.

Why We Like This:

Great for a beginner looking to experiment
Great for practicing for art classes
Good brand reputation

Best for charcoal: Canson High quality Paper

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The canson high quality paper gives the top-tier paper a run for their money by offering flagship specs at a much more affordable price. It is a light-fast paper that is colored at the pulp level. It holds both charcoal and hard pastel very well. It's handy for preplanning layouts and doing practice sketches. It works well with several mediums, and the lovely colours available makes this an attractive alternative to the more premium priced paper.

For a light card level textured paper surface, this is a good option for soft pastels. It takes a heavier, richer layer of colour on the "bumpy" side, to work up to being able to add fine details. This paper accepts a fair amount of layering for nice depth.

Why We Like This:

Color and paper thikness is great for portray
Great for colored paper and oil pastels
Excellent paper, with a nice variety of colours

Best for alcohol wash underpainting: Uart sanded Pastel Paper for Pastel pencil

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The uart sanded pastel paper paper for pastel pencil is satisfactory and appropriate and fits well with your daily purpose. This paper can take alcohol, water, watercolor, blending, it takes a beating and still looks good. It holds many layers of color, even more than you could hope for if you use a spray fixative on the first few layers. It is made for pastels specifically and you can get lots of layers on uart. It comes in several different grits.

It can accept under painting using a wide variety of media’s such as water, oil, mineral spirits, turpenoid and alcohol. It is strong enough to do a wet unpainting and will hold several layers of pastel. It makes blending so very easy.

Why We Like This:

Great sanded paper for pastel paintings
Meant for soft (chalk) pastels, but you can use oils on anything
Good sanded surface for pastel painting

Best for flowers: Canson Paper for Pastel pencil

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate paper. The canson paper for pastel pencil is exactly that - it's a simple paper that hits all the right notes. It is great for drawing landsapes, flowers, etc. It is made with 12 x 16 inch 98 pound/160 gram paper. It has a decent "tooth", with the downside being a pattern built in to the paper texture. The pastel paper is beautiful and it has a really nice tooth to it. The sheets should be hidden under the cover completely. The colors are a great bonus, and works as an underpainting.

The pad is really cool by the tones, the size and the texture is awesone, but the sheets of the block are not made entirely well, the content overflowed from the flap of the cover. It gives you the choice for a different finish in the draw.

Why We Like This:

Great paper, earth tones are great for drawing landsapes, flowers, etc
Really high quality for excellent effects
One of the new comers and featured product

Best for dry Pastel: Clairefontaine Pastelmat Paper

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Next on the list, we've got yet another paper that manages to win our hearts. It's the clairefontaine pastelmat paper and it's widely considered as paper that has the most suitable features. This glued block of 360 g card is ideal for the pastel technique. It is a high quality paper that is smooth but has excellent abrasion to hold pastel material. The pastel adheres so well to the paper, there is no need to use a fixative between each layer. It is good for colored pencil as pastelmat.

The paper is excellent, sturdy, strong and great for blending with oil pastels. The four colors in this pad are perfect. The paper is excellent for wet and dry pastel work and is substantial.

Why We Like This:

Nice colors, good texture, great results
Not quite a "board", but thicker and holds up better than heavy duty papers
Great paper for layering color and deep color
Holds lots of layers and is smooth to the touch

Best with either A wet or dry underpainting: Uart Paper for Pastel pencil

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The uart paper for pastel pencil's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. It can accept under painting using a wide variety of media’s such as water, oil, mineral spirits, turpenoid and alcohol. It works with either a wet or dry underpainting. The paper stays exposed all the way to the edges, while remaining perfectly flat throughout all the creative endeavors to come.

As far as the paper itself, it's well packaged in a nice cardboard envelope that is a convenient dispenser. It is ph neutral and acid free. It holds multiple layers of pastel.

Why We Like This:

Great quality paper and good value
Durable versatility for mixed media art projects
Lot of satisfied buyers

Best for multimedia painting: Swr Paper for Pastel pencil

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The swr paper for pastel pencil is capable of outshining several other paper featured in this list in overall features for the price point. The high-precision sanding surface can hold a lot of pastel layers. It's water resistant and allows you to add quite a few layers of pastel. It uses a high-weight substrate board that prevents warping in wet conditions and resistant to acrylic, alcohol and oil.

It is great medium for pastels, and 500 grit holds many layers of pastels. Based on great substrate, it works well on wet or dry underpainting.

Why We Like This:

Weight substrate board that prevents warping in wet conditions
One of the new comers and featured product