Pastel paper: features of choice

No stunning artistic skills will not allow you to create a masterpiece, if there are no necessary conditions for this. In the process of drawing the smallest details are important, and drawing supplies, among which paper, play a decisive role.

Pastel for a long time was not perceived by serious artists as a tool for real creativity - they used it exclusively for sketching sketches. Today this substance has received the widest distribution among art lovers due to the variety of varieties, beautiful and rich colors, as well as due to the convenience of the image.

Paper for pastels in its composition is not very different from other varieties of the same material, but its other characteristics determine its narrow orientation precisely to crayons. In order to choose the right pastel paper, you need a little more to understand the properties of crayons.

The first is small - the substance is dry and loose. Unlike paints, its traces are not absorbed into the paper, remaining only on its surface. There are softer varieties in which oil acts as a binder. There is quite a lot of it, and it is capable of fairly confidently providing adhesion to the base, but for young children it is relatively rare to buy it because of the high marquis of such a gift.

It turns out that you need to somehow increase the adhesion of the pigment to the base, and it is paper that is intended to do this. Smooth varieties of paper products for pastels do not exist - it is exclusively textured. Alternatively, the use of watercolor paper is sometimes allowed.

It is logical that pastel paper should have a fairly high density. If the chalk is of the dry type, then rather sudden movements may damage the too thin base. As for the oil formulations, they a priori require a sufficiently dense base so as not to leak through it.

We must not forget that when drawing with pastels, the technique of feathering is often used, which also puts forward demands regarding the high density of the canvas.

Finally, unlike many other pastel drawing tools. Pictures look better on non-white paper. The main shades, of course, look brighter on a white basis, but the light pastel colors on this background look extremely faded. In this regard, pastel paper is usually tinted during the production process.

Modern paper industry offers a choice of artists a huge range of products for each individual method of drawing, but it is pastel paper that has the maximum variety of options. The choice can be made, starting from several criteria at once.

For children and beginners, pastel paper is produced in sheets of standard formats, both individually and in the form of albums or notebooks with adhesive sheets. The most common format, widely used in general education schools, is the well-known A4, but for serious artistic needs a larger size may be needed - for example, A3 or even A2.

Pastel paper is also sold in rolls, attracting consumers the opportunity to save on wholesale purchases. Such a solution may have several drawbacks. First of all, you need to be able to cut such a roll carefully and with a minimum of useless waste. In addition, cut paper from a roll often retains a semicircular shape, which is not very convenient for drawing.

Contrary to the fact that white paper is considered not the most successful choice for pastels, for lovers of this drawing accessory, there is a choice of bases for all possible colors. Not the most catchy colors are traditionally very popular: tinted paper is usually produced in black or in different shades of gray.

Colored paper is also found, but its colors are usually low-key, so as not to interfere with the perception of the actual pattern. Colored albums are usually sold immediately by a set of different shades.

A separate moment in the selection of pastel paper is the selection of the necessary texture, on which the specificity of the finished result directly depends. In general, there are four main types of textures.

• Ingres The least dense variety of bases among all that are suitable for pastels - even watercolor paper is thinner than it. On the surface of such a framework, three-dimensional lines are clearly visible, representing a grid close to the squares and rectangles in shape.

• Cells. A more dense and high-quality structure, in which the relief element is not the grid separating the fragments, but the cells themselves. In the best samples, such cells contribute to a better retention of the pigment on the surface, and the finished drawing is covered with small uniform dots of the base color, which adds charm to the masterpiece.

• Emery texture. It is doubtful that such paper could sand the surface, but outwardly it looks very much like its abrasive relative. On the surface, pronounced granularity is noticeable, due to which the pigment perfectly clings to such paper. This variety is usually considered professional and is available only in large formats.

• Velvet. This option, on the contrary, has a soft texture, which is achieved by a relatively small density of fibers in the upper layer. Between such free fibers the pigment is perfectly kept, therefore this kind of paper is also very popular. Such bases usually have a fairly high density, so they can be applied the technique of shading (in the absence of the thickest pile). In general, it is velvet paper that is usually used to imitate painting.

A wide variety of pastels on the market allows professionals to choose the best solution, but it only confuses inexperienced consumers. Before you go to the store, you need to decide for exactly what purpose you need the purchased paper.

As a rule, pastel paper is sold either individually in sheets or in albums. The last option would be more appropriate for the child, since this eliminates the risk of immediate loss of form in the depths of the children's portfolio.

Choosing a set of sheets, it is impossible not to think about their color. Gray paper is rightly considered the most neutral solution, because it is recommended to buy it for children. A multi-colored set is worth buying only if the future owner has already managed to master the principles of choosing a background for a particular pattern.

The kid would have liked the set with bright sheets more, but for serious creativity they are not enough - we need neutral shades that would shade the drawing well, without diverting attention from the work itself.

You can not choose paper for pastels without regard for the variety of crayons themselves. The choice of the basis for oil pastels is somewhat simpler, since the fatty component in it provides a rather high adhesion. It turns out that the oil crayons are not so demanding on the texture of the paper, but they need a proper thickness, ensuring that the canvas does not get wet through and does not stain everything around.

As for dry pastels, a very pronounced texture is very important for it - for example, the same cells or “emery” surface.

It should be noted that reviews on the Internet in this case do not always allow us to make a real picture of the comparison of paper quality from different manufacturers. The best pastel base - each has its own. Here it is important to choose not so paper, as a combination of paper with pastel. The best canvas can be criticized by a person who picked the wrong ones for him, and just as the worst version of the foundation can earn sincere praise if a consumer accidentally hit the nail on his choice of pastels.

Professionals probably know how to choose the right canvas for various drawings, beginners and enthusiasts also studied the topic in advance, but it can be difficult for parents of kids to figure out how to buy good paper for pastels. There are some simple tips that will help not to be mistaken.

• Albums are preferable for kids because of their ability to keep shape. When buying a set of sheets, you should additionally take care of a hard folder for storing and transporting paper.

• The density of quality paper for pastels is quite high, which can not but affect its weight, because for young children you should not buy albums of large volume - 8-12 sheets will be enough for a start.
• You should not get the kid the most expensive professional paper at once, because he still will not be able to fully disclose all of its advantages, whereas for a general idea of ​​the properties of pastels and mastering the basic techniques, the average set for beginners will suffice.
• Many parents prefer not to puzzle over the choice of a special paper for pastels and limit the use of the watercolor version for watercolors and pastels. However, this does not mean that you can take any album in the stationery store. In this case, means textured watercolor paper, which is less common and costs a little more.

You will learn more about the types and brands of pastel paper from the following video.