My latest experiment with drawing paper isn’t paper at all. It’s Ampersand’s Pastelbord, and I’ll tell how Pastelbord and colored pencils work together.
About Ampersand Pastelbord
Pastelbord appealed to me since the first time I saw an oil painting painted on it. That was years ago and the surface of the paint was so smooth and silky looking that I was taken in immediately. I thought about trying it then, but somehow never did.
Fast forward over ten years, and I finally have my first Pastelbord in my hands. Why am I trying it now?
Donna Slade was the featured artist for the September 2024 issue of CP Magic. She does most, if not all, of her colored pencil work on Pastelbord because she can coat the final artwork with fixative and frame it without glass. Her work is so lovely and detailed that I began considering Pastelbord back then.
However, Donna uses Light Grey Pastelbord and I didn’t quite have the courage to go that route. So I purchased white Pastelbord. I got an 8×10 panel for my trial piece.
Technical Details
The drawing surface of Pastelbord is hand-applied kaolin clay ground with fine marble dust. According to the labeling, it holds more pastel layers (and hopefully colored pencil layers) than any other surface. It comes in gray, white, muted green, and soft white.
The drawing surface is affixed to a 1/8 inch (3cm) premium, warp-resistant hardboard support. It’s sealed to the support in a way that makes the panels acid-free and that eliminates the potential for discoloration reaching the drawing surface from the support. They are also tested to last 200 years.
If you’re concerned about archival qualities, don’t be. The surface is designed so that colors remain true for the long-term. If that’s not enough, conservators have endorsed the panels and artists working in a number of mediums use them. Remember that oil painting I mentioned above?
Pastelbord is available in 5×7, 8×10, 11×14, 16×20, and 18×24 sizes, all of which fit standard frames without matting.
If you’re looking for a low cost way to try them, you can also get a set of all four colors (one each) at the 5×7 size. At the time of this writing, the price for that assortment is under $15, plus shipping and sales tax through Dick Blick.
Initial Thoughts
Panels are individually shrink-wrapped. The 8×10 panel I purchased is very sturdy and solid feeling. I have painted on birch panels in the past and although the Pastelbord is not as thick as the birch panel, it is just as solid.
I’m not sure how to describe the surface texture. It’s much finer than Pastelmat, Colourfix and even 800 grit UArt Premium Sanded Pastel paper. But it doesn’t feel like any of those papers. It has an eggshell appearance but doesn’t feel like an eggshell either. The closest comparison I can make from personal experience is dry wall. It feels a little bit like the dry wall you use inside houses, just a bit more toothy. The uniqueness of the surface is no doubt due to the marble dust.
The best I can do is show you this scan, which shows the pebbly surface compared to colored pencils.
So how does it to draw on?
Pastelbord and Colored Pencils
Basic Stroking
I used Faber-Castell Polychromos Raw Umber for these stroke tests. As usual, I also used light pressure. But I quickly discovered that if I wanted very light applications, I had to be very careful. Pastelbord grabs color so well that I was getting darker values than I wanted even with light pressure.
The first two strokes are scumbling (left below) and hatching (right below). The darker value on the left side of each sample represents more layers.
Next was stippling (left below) and directional (right below).
Overall, color lay down is very easy because the surface grabs color so well. But I also felt a good deal of resistance as I moved the pencil across the surface. That resistance probably decreases with more and more layers, though I didn’t notice that with these stroke tests.
However, I will also say that once I became familiar with the resistance between pencil tip and drawing surface, it was no longer such a big deal.
Lifting Color
Since it’s so easy to lift color on Pastelmat and other sanded surfaces, I decided to try lifting color from Pastelbord. It was very easy to remove most of the stroke tests, as you can see below. It’s probable that I could lift even more color if I wanted, but then I would have had nothing to scan! I used mounting putty to lift this color.
This ease of lifting color suggests that it might be just as easy to change sketches and correct drawings on Pastelbord. An intriguing idea.
Drawing on Pastelbord with Colored Pencils
Sketching with a Pastel Pencil
Part of the appeal about Pastelbord is that sketching on Pastelbord with pastel pencils was easy and removable. So I started sketching out a landscape with PITT Pastel 1122-180 Raw Umber. I didn’t use a reference photo, I just sketched, as though working on an ACEO.
I sketched out a generic sort of scene with a lot of sky, rolling hills and banks of trees stretching from the background to the foreground in a generally left to right direction. To round out the composition, I did enough shading to establish the direction of the light source, added water in the foreground, then finished the preliminary sketch with a couple of towering thunderheads.
Then I used a paper stump to blend the shadows in the clouds and near trees.
Finally, I darkened some of the shadows in the foreground, land and clouds.
Removing Color
How easy is it to remove pastel pencil from Pastelbord? Very easy.
I used a cloth to wipe off as much of the previous sketch as possible, then cleaned it up with a couple of rounds of mounting putty. As you can see, I didn’t get all the way back to clean Pastelbord, but I removed enough of the sketch that it should be fairly easy to do a new sketch or to replace the previous one with changes.
Choosing the Right Pencils
I haven’t done a lot of work on this surface, but I have learned something very important. It does matter what type of pencils you use.
I started out with Faber-Castell Polychromos because I use them for almost every project. They also work great on Pastelmat, so I thought they would work great on this toothy surface.
They laid down nicely, but they didn’t stay there. No matter how careful I was in applying color, it was ridiculously easy to move color around or remove it altogether. When I used glassine to rest my hand on, the glassine picked up color. I’ve never had that happen before.
Waxier pencils like Prismacolor and Caran d’Ache Luminance are definitely a better fit for Pastelbord. You’ll still want to use glassine or some other means of protecting the surface, but the color will stick better.
I am planning a finished project on Pastelbord and will have more to say about this when that project is complete.
So What Do I Think of Pastelbord and Colored Pencils?
Pastelbord and colored pencils are an interesting combination. I will have to wait until my project is finished for an accurate assessment, but at the moment, I think I prefer Pastelmat.
However, the idea to being able to frame a colored pencil portrait in a frame without glass is still appealing.
Do I recommend Pastelbord? It’s too early to tell, but if you like a challenge and you like trying new things, by all means give it a try.
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