The Results Are Finally In!!!

I've been trying out different paper and pastels and wanted to give you my opinions on them all.

PAPER
Uart paper in the 500 grit is too smooth a surface for me. It seems too regular. I like the slightly irregular texture of the Wallis paper more. The Uart paper also seemed to eat up pastels faster. Now, that being said, I do have a lot more experience with Wallis paper and I am very used to it, so maybe this is just a case of not being able to teach an old dog a new trick. I also really like the color of the Wallis Belgium Mist. The white Uart paper is difficult for me to deal with, so I will stick to the Wallis paper. In fact, I am going to trade my white Uart for some Belgium Mist Wallis with an artist who has problems dealing with the gray Wallis paper. It really is a matter of sticking with what works best for you.

PASTELS
I also had the chance to try the variety of different pastels which I bought .

To me, Unisons are about the same as the Mt. Visions that I love so much. As a result, I will stick with the Mt. Visions. I like the colors and texture (a little gritty from pumice in the pastel) of the Mt. Visions and the price is great.

Although I have tried them in the past, I just don't like Giraults. They feel too small and don't seem soft enough for me, (probably because I use a lot of Mt. Visions).

Rembrandts and Windsor Newtons are kind of unspectacular and chalky in the way they feel when I use them. They seem a bit hard.

I still like Senneliers for their softness. Unfortunately I have gotten some Senneliers that were inconsistent in texture in the past.

I also had the chance to try Terry Ludwigs for the first time. Although the colors were really nice, I don't care for the texture of them. They seemed to drag across the paper, rather than glide smoothly.

I didn't try the Henri Roches. The colors which I had (reds) are something I'd probably never use and will sell them instead.

However, the pastels that impressed me the most were the Great American Art Works. They are beautifully soft with amazing coverage and color saturation -truly buttery in feel. I really liked them and would love to get my hands on more of them if I can. They tend to be a bit pricey, but I usually buy only a couple at a time so I'll hope to add more of them to my collection over time.

New Stuff

Recently I was lucky enough to purchase the stock of pastels belonging to another artist who was leaving the area. In it are a lot of brands which I have never used before including Unison, Terry Ludwig, Diane Townsend, Girault and, the Cadillac of pastels: Henri Roche. They are some of the more expensive brands which I don't usually like to spend the money on. My feeling on the subject is that the most expensive pastels in the world won't necessarily make up for a lack of painting ability, so I'd rather not spend a fortune on materials. I'd rather concentrate on improving my ability to paint in pastel. However, I do like good quality materials. One thing I have learned over time is that student grade stuff will never give the descent results one wants and in fact just adds to the frustration of trying to produce good work using inferior materials. I will try them all though, as I decide which ones to keep and which ones I want to sell.

I also bought some Uart paper, in the 500 grade. It's got a nice smooth finish to it, but it's a buff color and I hate using the whiter papers. I like the neutral gray of Wallis paper, but could see the merits of the off-white if I was to use a wash of some kind, such as watercolor before I begin to paint in pastel. This particular paper doesn't seem to have the toothiness of the Wallis paper, but it is very smooth. On the 2 paintings I recently did on it, I filled the tooth surprisingly fast. I very rarely fill the tooth on the Wallis. So I will have to experiment and try the Uart paper a bit more before I would be able to give a real comparison of the two. I did notice something else about the Uart - it's tough stuff! I often tear large sheets of Wallis paper into smaller sheets simply by creasing the paper and folding it over in the same place repeatedly until the fibers in the paper break down some, making it easy to tear along the fold. I tried to do the same thing with the Uart, but it still didn't want to tear. That surprised me.

I will be trying out all of these variables over the next couple of weeks to see what works best for me.