Interesting to see you using Pastelmat Bethany :) I was intrigued as to what you'd think of it - as you know it's my go to paper and I adore it. I think the thing is when coming from a certain surface to another one you tend to use the techniques you're used to - a bit like muscle memory - I know I do the same when working on smooth paper, I try to use the techniques I use when drawing on pastelmat and that doesn't work. Good to see you trying it out though :)
Don’t brush on pastelmat you’ll take off a lot of the pigment hence the smudging, and you can smooth over darker layers with a lighter colour, there are “magic” pencils. After the first maybe 6 layers then you can go in with detail ☺️ hope this helps x
It requires a few layers to look good and you need something under your hand such as glassine like you do with any other paper. It takes awhile to adjust to using, so I use it once in awhile although I tend to gravitate to my Fabriano Artistico at the moment. I believe that as artists it is good for us to learn to use more than 1 ground. By our nature we are creative and need to experiment and try new things. That being said as a mother and grandmother I also know that we need to try things more than once in order to form an informed decision.
I COMPLETELY agree! I just finished a commissioned portrait using color pencil on pastel-mat...it was a nightmare trying to keep the paper clean...and there were a few dark areas in the shadows that were very difficult to blend, that appeared shinny, after layering because of the tooth of the paper. To me, it felt like trying to blend on top of sand paper, really. In the end, I learned a valuable lesson- to use pastel-mat for “pastels’. That’s just me, of course...maybe other peeps will feel differently but I liked trying something new. (-:
Great review Bethany. I used to use Pastelmat but hate the grainy look and I found it took soooo long to fill up the tooth of the paper in an attempt to get rid of that grainy look. I use Fabriano now and love it. I think paper can be a bit like Marmite, you either love it or you don’t. X
fabulous video bethany , i love pastelmat but no longer use it due to the quality control issues for the price ,i have had so many faulty sheets its unbelievable , but i did enjoy working on it and especially the coloured sheets as i find the white to be very gritty x
@@BethanyVere yes i dont use pastelmat much for cp anymore , but i never used the white beacause of this. i would recommend trying brown , dark grey , anthracite and wine ,these are my favourite colours for animals. also , the board is a lot smoother too ! so that is something to consider trying . if you email clairefontaine and ask for a colour wheel they will send you an a6 wheel of all the colours avaliable (14) x
Iv just tried pastal mat card iv got same results as you well its grainy and even tho I used light pressure I cant get it to look like your work I dont know if I'm doing something wrong it does feel a bit waxy after a few layers I'm a beginner at art and pencil drawing and I'm working on my presure and pencil strokes but still cant get same results I was working on a peace for 5 hours and I thought it would look better than it did. I didnt have all same colours i only have a 24 set of polychromos so dont have all the colours but tried to make it work maybe I dont have the patients for coloured pencils might try pastel pencil
Very helpful video! I've always used pastelmat, but after this video I think I should try the Fabriano paper you're talking about. Could you tell me the exact paper that you are using?
I don't like it for coloured pencils either it feels like drawing with crayons on that lumpy surface ! But I want to try it with pastels which I think will be better. Also you can do like 40 layers on it but to me that's just boring going over and over and over. I normally use Bristol as s smooth but I think Fabrizio will be better as layers are limited on Bristol. Anyway I'm glad I'm of the not one who doesn't like the feel of pastelmat.
Thanks for doing this video! I have recently tried pastelmat for the first time and I too found lack of crisp lines really frustrating and I didn't even draw something that required much detail as a test piece - using it is certainly a learning curve for me. Other than that I love it, but I don't think I would use it purely for coloured pencil, layering over pastel definitely helped speed up smoothing the texture.
Guess that's why it's called Pastelmat. There are lots of papers that claim to be great for pastels but this truly is designed to take pastel so it pretty much has to be toothy. Colored pencils could still be used for really fine detail but this paper really eats up the point.
Lol your just like me and love details and I don't like pastelmat it's bloody awful stuff! The pencil just bleeds and you can't get crisp lines. All your thoughts is exactly what I thought, I think it also depends on your style of drawing as to how you get on with pastelmat x love the fabriano piece 👌❤️😍
Would be interested to see the finished piece. Obviously techniques are going to differ between paper types and it would be nice to see the end result, Even if I don't think something is working I like to push through until the end. Sometimes it ends up working out or I at least learn things along the way.
j utilise le pastelmat mais en faisant une sous couche pastel ou panpastel et ensuite crayons de couleur, je serais interessé d essaye le fabriano pour comparer
Interesting to see you using Pastelmat Bethany :) I was intrigued as to what you'd think of it - as you know it's my go to paper and I adore it. I think the thing is when coming from a certain surface to another one you tend to use the techniques you're used to - a bit like muscle memory - I know I do the same when working on smooth paper, I try to use the techniques I use when drawing on pastelmat and that doesn't work. Good to see you trying it out though :)
Don’t brush on pastelmat you’ll take off a lot of the pigment hence the smudging, and you can smooth over darker layers with a lighter colour, there are “magic” pencils. After the first maybe 6 layers then you can go in with detail ☺️ hope this helps x
It requires a few layers to look good and you need something under your hand such as glassine like you do with any other paper. It takes awhile to adjust to using, so I use it once in awhile although I tend to gravitate to my Fabriano Artistico at the moment. I believe that as artists it is good for us to learn to use more than 1 ground. By our nature we are creative and need to experiment and try new things. That being said as a mother and grandmother I also know that we need to try things more than once in order to form an informed decision.
I COMPLETELY agree! I just finished a commissioned portrait using color pencil on pastel-mat...it was a nightmare trying to keep the paper clean...and there were a few dark areas in the shadows that were very difficult to blend, that appeared shinny, after layering because of the tooth of the paper. To me, it felt like trying to blend on top of sand paper, really. In the end, I learned a valuable lesson- to use pastel-mat for “pastels’. That’s just me, of course...maybe other peeps will feel differently but I liked trying something new. (-:
I totally agree with you. Your work on the paper is absolutely gorgeous!!!Please tell us what kind of Fabriani paper you like..thanks!
Great review Bethany. I used to use Pastelmat but hate the grainy look and I found it took soooo long to fill up the tooth of the paper in an attempt to get rid of that grainy look. I use Fabriano now and love it. I think paper can be a bit like Marmite, you either love it or you don’t. X
Such an interesting video! Love hearing what others like and don’t like to use when it comes to materials! Keep up the wonderful work!
fabulous video bethany , i love pastelmat but no longer use it due to the quality control issues for the price ,i have had so many faulty sheets its unbelievable , but i did enjoy working on it and especially the coloured sheets as i find the white to be very gritty x
Oh really! This is the white and i don't like it at all! Maybe i should try some of the other colours? xx
@@BethanyVere yes i dont use pastelmat much for cp anymore , but i never used the white beacause of this. i would recommend trying brown , dark grey , anthracite and wine ,these are my favourite colours for animals. also , the board is a lot smoother too ! so that is something to consider trying . if you email clairefontaine and ask for a colour wheel they will send you an a6 wheel of all the colours avaliable (14) x
It's not my cup of tea with colored pencil but with pastel pencils it's a dream.
Awesome review !
Where did you get that pencil extender?
Watching from South Africa. Your work is absolutely stunning, I enjoy watching you work.🤗
Nice to see you back on you tube. Would love to see some more draw with me videos. Great work x
Iv just tried pastal mat card iv got same results as you well its grainy and even tho I used light pressure I cant get it to look like your work I dont know if I'm doing something wrong it does feel a bit waxy after a few layers I'm a beginner at art and pencil drawing and I'm working on my presure and pencil strokes but still cant get same results I was working on a peace for 5 hours and I thought it would look better than it did. I didnt have all same colours i only have a 24 set of polychromos so dont have all the colours but tried to make it work maybe I dont have the patients for coloured pencils might try pastel pencil
Very helpful video! I've always used pastelmat, but after this video I think I should try the Fabriano paper you're talking about. Could you tell me the exact paper that you are using?
Fabriano is my personal preference for sure, i use the heaviest weight, its the 640gsm (300lb) hot pressed extra white - its Fabriano Artistico :)
@@BethanyVere Thank you very much! I'm going to buy it! 😃
Do you normally used fabriano artistico paper
I don't like it for coloured pencils either it feels like drawing with crayons on that lumpy surface ! But I want to try it with pastels which I think will be better. Also you can do like 40 layers on it but to me that's just boring going over and over and over. I normally use Bristol as s smooth but I think Fabrizio will be better as layers are limited on Bristol. Anyway I'm glad I'm of the not one who doesn't like the feel of pastelmat.
Thanks for doing this video! I have recently tried pastelmat for the first time and I too found lack of crisp lines really frustrating and I didn't even draw something that required much detail as a test piece - using it is certainly a learning curve for me. Other than that I love it, but I don't think I would use it purely for coloured pencil, layering over pastel definitely helped speed up smoothing the texture.
Guess that's why it's called Pastelmat. There are lots of papers that claim to be great for pastels but this truly is designed to take pastel so it pretty much has to be toothy. Colored pencils could still be used for really fine detail but this paper really eats up the point.
Lol your just like me and love details and I don't like pastelmat it's bloody awful stuff! The pencil just bleeds and you can't get crisp lines. All your thoughts is exactly what I thought, I think it also depends on your style of drawing as to how you get on with pastelmat x love the fabriano piece 👌❤️😍
Would be interested to see the finished piece. Obviously techniques are going to differ between paper types and it would be nice to see the end result, Even if I don't think something is working I like to push through until the end. Sometimes it ends up working out or I at least learn things along the way.
j utilise le pastelmat mais en faisant une sous couche pastel ou panpastel et ensuite crayons de couleur, je serais interessé d essaye le fabriano pour comparer