Product Review : Clairefontaine Pastelmat

Gayle Mason (Fur in the Paint) has done a very nice post about a Comparison of Pastelmat, Pastelbord and Fisher 400 paper which summarises the relative merits of different supports for coloured pencil work.

Pastelmat
Global Art Supplies - catalogue image
(pdf file)

I'm going to highlight each product in turn and reference the relevant websites, others who have produced reviews and produce a summary for each type of support.

Today is the turn of the Pastelmat by Clairefontaine

Blogs which comment on pastelmat for coloured pencils

• Fur in the Paint
• Comparison of Pastelmat, Pastelbord and Fisher 400 paper
• Pastel cat on Pastelmat
• Cat on Pastelmat continued
• Cat on Pastelmat continued (again!)

• Kim Rattigan - drawings in coloured pencils using pastelmat
  

Blogs which comment on pastelmat for pastels

• The Art Inquirer - A Pastel on Pastelmat from Clairefontaine
• art by derek jones - drawings by Derek Jones on pastelmat
  

Product: Pastelmat

Manufacturer / Distributor: Clairefontaine

Technical Details: A smooth cork grained surface available in different colours. Two sizes of acid free 360g/m2 (170lb) sheet available: 50 x 70cms (19.75" x 27.5") or 70 x 100cm's. Also available in smaller sizes as pastelmat pads. Version 2 of the Pastelmat pad: colours are Brown, Sienna, Anthracite and White. Pads are available in 3 different formats. Each pad contains 4 shades x 3 sheets. Each sheet is protected by a crystal insert.

Summary: Suitable for soft or hard pastels, pastel pencils and coloured pencils.

Suitable for: Realistic art using coloured pencils or pastel pencils. Enables both fine lines and smudged/softness.

Highlights: possible to get a really white 'white' on the black pastelmat possible to get a very sharp line / suits those drawing hair or fur manufacturer claims that there is no need to use fixative for soft pastels between layers work on sheets in pads protected by crystal inserts good quality saturation means less layers required possible to blend and smudge (unlike with velour) not abrasive (unlike Colourfix and Fisher 400) Creative Art Company states that it has a tough waterproof surface

Think Again? this support won't take as many layers as some supports expensive for those living in the USA given the need to import from Europe

Suppliers: Available in the UK from Great Art Global Art Supplies - see technical data sheet for Pastelmat Jacksons Art The Creative Support Art Company Tim Fisher. No known suppliers in the USA