Cheap Pastel Paper For Beginners

Is There a Cheap Pastel Paper for Beginners?

Yes...and no. Cheap pastel papers, like Ingres or Mi-Tientes, are suitable for pastels but they create very different results to papers like Pastelmat. Pastelmat, Velour, and Mi-Tientes Velvet all have a flocked surface, which makes them unique and allows for a specific layering process to create hyper-realistic drawings. 

These cheaper pastel papers, which will often have a textured or ribbed surface, work better for oil base pastels or for loose pastel chalk sketches. They do not allow for the layering process required to create realistic pastel pencil drawings and require the use of a fixative, too. 

How Can I Practice Pastels with Cheap Materials?

To practice pastel pencils without spending lots of money, you should turn to an ordinary HB pencil and copy paper. Getting better at drawing fur and creating gradations with an ordinary pencil will improve your abilities with a pastel pencil. 

By practicing pastel pencil techniques on copy paper, you will improve your dexterity and pencil control. These are transferable skills and will strengthen your pastel pencil work when you return to it. I used to do a lot of graphite drawing, when I transitioned to pastel pencils, I didn't have to go through a steep learning curve because of the skills I already had.

Best Cheap Pastel Paper for Beginners

The best cheap pastel paper for beginners to practice techniques on is the Canson XL Sand Grain paper. I like this because it's cheap, the mid tone grey is good for showing up a variety of colours and it has a little tooth to it.

I must stress that this paper is best for practicing techniques but is not good enough for creating detailed drawings of multiple layers. As I have already said, a flocked paper is required for this such as Pastelmat or Canson Mi-Tientes Velvet. At the time of writing, a cheap flocked paper does not exist.

Is Pastelmat Good for Beginners?

Yes, Pastelmat is a good paper for beginners. The only issue is its expense, which puts some beginners off. The Pastelmat paper is cheaper than the boards and fine for most projects, which saves some money. The issue with trying to create full drawings on texture pastel papers, such as Ingres, is the layering process won't stick to the paper and details won't show up.

This leads many beginners to think they're really bad at drawing, or the medium is really hard to use, when neither is true. The reason nearly all professional pastel pencil artists use Pastelmat or Canson Mi-Tientes Velvet is because it's really good for hyper-realistic drawings and makes it easier!