Clairefontaine Pastelmat Pad - White 360g 24x30cm 12 sheets

Pastelmat is really in a category of it's own as a "paper". Nothing comes close in terms of providing the amount of "tooth" to catch pigment without feel abrasive on your hand as you work on it. Although people can assume it is purely for pastels given the name, and it is phenomenal for those (both chalk and oil pastels), it is also amazing with coloured pencils and will increase the vibrancy of your colours due to the amount of pigment it takes. It is sufficiently thick (360gsm) it can be regarded as card and detaches readily from the pad to which it is lightly glued on one edge. It is available in several sizes depending on your needs and can just be detached and used for a great result. The quality is phenomenal but is not cheap so is something you would generally reserve for final works. Do note that the surface is so different to drawing and multimedia papers it is vital to re-swatch your pastels/coloured pencils on this if you haven't used it before. I would also comment that the black pastelmat is actually more of a very dark grey than a true black.

Excellent product! Makes drawing with pastels a dream as it holds several layers of pastel extremely well which is ideal for creating texture. A great choice of colours in one pad. Highly recommend.

Amazing quality which reflects in the price. But worth it for pieces you wish to display/sell. Holds a lot if. Oloured pencil layers and a firm favourite of many pencil artists

Love using this paper, it's so good for layering and blending. Ideal for using with pan pastels as light base layer, then pastel pencils for detail. Worth the extra cost. One gripe is that it was only delivered in an envelope, no bubble wrap or padding, so consequently there was slight damage to the pad on one edge. I needed to start a commission so could not return.

This excellent quailty comes in Different shades, lovely to work with in pastels. it is pricey though wish there was more paper. But over all very happy .

It’s the first time I have used Pastelmat and found it very different to other pastel papers. I couldn’t smudge the colours with my finger or blend them it might be that I use pastel pencils . If I use soft pastel more heavily then it would blend easier. But I have found a method that works for me and I will continue using Pastelmat with pastel pencils. I I like it and enjoy the results

Expensive, but definitely worth it. I'm new to soft pastels, and lately I've been practising with them on normal pastel paper (Strathmore and Jacksonsart own). I kept seeing pastel artists recommend pastelmat everywhere, so after several paintings and knowing I'm going to keep using pastels, I bought this pad (it was at the time the cheapest of the CF pastelmats). I get it now. I get the hype. This paper is the best for soft pastels. I was actually really surprised that it was a little harder (not *hard* as such, just less maneuverable) to blend on this paper, but realized that THAT is actually a plus. On my other pastel papers it was almost too easy to blend, and I do like that, but the dust that came off the regular papers was insane. With this pastelmat there's a fraction of the dust because the paper can grip it, thus using your pastels more efficiently and creating less pastel dust everywhere in your room. I find it a little limiting on the Strathmore pastel paper to layer, so the ability to do so many times on this paper was so nice. It's essentially sandpaper with a medium grit (please don't use rough sandpaper, it'll eat your pastels), but I love that this pad comes with protective sheets for each leaf (except the first one, I cut that one up into smaller paper sizes to try them out first, hence the tiny art in the photos). The only gripe I have is my pad is slightly curved/warped. I left it under a heavy comic box and it straighten it a little, but for pricey paper I'd expect flat paper for professional use. As an artist who likes to sell artwork, I will definitely be purchasing this brand again. Hopefully with less warpage though.

smaller than it looked but good quality pastel mat expensive for size

J'adore ce papier. Je le préfère même au Pastelcard de Sennelier car il fait moins de poussière. Et le grain plus doux (mais qui peut accueillir des tonnes de couches de pastel !) permet de travailler plus facilement les détails.

It is Clairefontaine so of course it is a great mat for pastel paintings.

衝撃の商品です！！！ 人物パステル画、2度目の挑戦でしたが 全く粉っぽくならず、どんどんパステルを吸い込み、色混ぜが楽しすぎて 仕上がりも感動でした！！！ 品質の良いものがもつ、感動を 味合わせていただきました✨️ 高価と思いましたが、購入して良かったですし、パステル画に挑戦される方には、是非オススメしたい逸品です！

Das beste Pastellpapier! Teuer, aber jeden Cent wert. Früher habe ich meine Pastellzeichnungen immer auf Tonpapier oder dickem Zeichenpapier angefertigt. Das ging auch, aber man muss es ehrlich sagen: Das Pastelmat Pastellpapier von Clairefontaine ist einfach die beste Wahl. Es zeichnet sich durch eine einzigartige, samtige Oberfläche aus, die ganz bewusst zwischen klassischen sandpapierartigen Pastellpapieren und glatteren Velours-Papieren angesiedelt ist. Diese fein strukturierte Oberfläche sorgt dafür, dass Pigmente, egal ob weiche Pastelle, Pastellstifte, PanPastel oder sogar harte Medien sicher und tief aufgenommen werden. Der sogenannte „tooth“ (dt. „Zahn“) des Papiers, also die Menge an Pigment, die es aufnehmen kann, ist um ein vielfaches höher als bei jedem anderen Papier das ich kenne. Besonders wenn man mit vielen übereinander gelagerten Schichten arbeitet, ist das ein unverzichtbares Qualitätsmerkmal. Ich persönlich stecke immer sehr viel Zeit und Mühe in meine Bilder und mache nur selten schnelle Skizzen. Für letztere nutze ich dann normales Zeichenpapier, da mir das teure Pastelmat dafür zu schade ist. Für ausgearbeitete Bilder nehme ich mittlerweile nur noch Pastelmat, am liebsten in den Farben Anthrazit, Blau oder Grün. Leider enthalten die gemischten Blöcke immer auch hellere Varianten, die ich viel seltener nutze. Ein Block nur mit dunklen Schattierungen wäre super!

Fun