Pastelmat - smooth layers to cover the grain

Blue Iris on Pastelmat

Clairefontaine Pastelmat is a favourite amongst colour pencil artists and teachers for its ease of use and forgiving nature. It has benefits that can elevate colour pencil artwork, giving it a beautifully soft feel. But many don’t know how to get smooth layers or disguise, the grain.

The unique texture of Pastelmat is what sets it apart from other sanded papers. Composed of a fine cellulose coating on the drawing side, the fibres provide just the right amount of grip to hold multiple layers of pencil without the need for excessive pressure, and little to no falloff. But lots of layers requires lots, and lots, and lots of time, especially if you want a smooth finish. You have to be prepared for that!

You could, of course, embrace the grain. Develop techniques to incorporate the texture and be done in half the time. Look at Megan Seiter's work (though she uses sanded paper, not Pastelmat, but you can very clearly see the grain is prominent, and quite beautiful in her finished pieces.)

The Blue Iris drawing above is on Pastelmat, and though it appears smooth in photos and at normal viewing distance, when you get up close it is not. So even if you think you want it smooth, you really don't have to squash every bit of tooth.

I would recommend practicing the ‘smooshing’ technique as the main ingredient for tooth coverage. This is probably the very best way to get your coverage looking more smooth to the eye. Then look at the blending aids below for what else you can do.

‘Smooshing’ otherwise called a smoothing layer, is a layer of very light colour sandwiched in the lower layers, somewhere between layer 3 and 5, though there’s no fixed rule on that. It is often done with a pale grey, but I also like to use the lightest version of the colour I’m working on.

Take a look at this example. The smooshing layer was done on top of 3 even layers of colour. I used a Polychromos Cool Grey 1, with fairly light pressure, in little ovals [scumbling]. You can clearly see how this application flattens the appearance. The final segment has two additional layers on top with increased pressure, but there is still room for more.

Effect of a sandwiched smooshing layer. Click to expand.

The smooshing layer is best applied using the scumbling, or tiny ovals, technique with a light to medium pressure. You’re not trying to flatten the tooth, it’s more of a gentle scrubbing technique that pushes the pigment about, into the recesses of the grain, resulting in a smoother finish…although of course, it’s not finished, and you’ll need to apply a couple more layers and burnish if you want it as smooth as possible. But it really cuts down on the total layers you’d need to put down if you didn’t smoosh!

If you have a very light hand you’ll naturally need to add more layers anyway, but you can include multiple smooshing layers sandwiched between to give your piece a very soft finish. Be careful you don’t desaturate your colours though.

The colour pencils you use will have some effect on the results too. In the above example, I used Faber Castell Polychromos on the top half and Prismacolor Premier below to see what the difference would be. The feel of the two brands on the surface are very different - the Prismacolor being so much softer 'stickier', and the Polychromos being harder and 'drier'. Visually, they are almost identical at the beginning, even the smooshing layer looked similar. It's not until after smooshing, when adding more layers, does the Prismacolor accentuate the texture all over again. It's thicker waxier pigment sticks to the peaks of the tooth making the smooshing not nearly as effective. I don't particularly like soft, waxy pencils on pastelmat for that reason.

If just thinking about all that layering is making your wrist ache, here’s five common smoothing/blending aids designed to speed up the process. Not all are helpful on Pastelmat though, as you will see!

For this example, there are three even layers of pencil in each section. Polychromos on the top/right and Prismacolor bottom/left. For an actual artwork, I would apply more layers on top, which would reduce the grain more, but I wanted to show the differences and how some of these methods could help speed up – or slow down – the layering process.

Different blending aids on Pastelmat. Click to expand.

1.    Odourless Mineral Spirits. This must be used sparingly and in a ventilated space. Dip a small synthetic brush into the solvent, dry most of it onto a disposable rag, then gently scrub at the surface in little circles to dissolve the binder and mix the pigments. This technique has the best results for both oil and wax pencils, but there is a risk that you can damage the surface if the brush is too wet. I only recommend doing this once on pastelmat, and it's important to let it dry before adding more pencil.

2.    Blender Pen. This is a more controllable version of OMS, and less of a safety concern, but a brand-new juicy nib is not recommended for Pastelmat. It is too wet and you can't dry it off so it disintegrates the surface. You can see in the example how bad it looks! However, on watercolour paper this does work like a charm! I love these.

3.    Cotton bud. Dry blending works the best when the pigment is more movable. A lovely smooth finish for the Polychromos, and no damage to the tooth. But it barely made a difference to the waxy Prismacolor.

4.    Blending stump. Similar results to the cotton bud. I prefer this technique as you can be a little more precise with smaller stumps. It does pick up a lot of pigment though. Not entirely sure it's worth it.

5.    Blender Pencil. Both sides appear to have retained more of their vibrancy, but I did have to press quite firmly, so the tooth has been flattened, preventing many more layers on top. Not sure I like having to press that hard.

Why not give these techniques a go and see which one works best for you? Your pencils, your pressure and your own style of working will be different to mine, and we all work slightly differently.

In essence, the key to covering the texture of Pastelmat, is to keep layering. If you’re still seeing lots of tooth peeking through, you haven’t layered enough or used the right tools to help disguise it. But if you’re expecting ultra-smooth, I’d highly recommend using a different surface. Your pencils and your wrists will thank you!

Want to draw the Blue Iris for yourself? I have a free step-by-step tutorial for you!