Paper Experiment

Pat's Tree

8.5" x 5.5"

pastel

An artist friend (featured in my Man and Manatee pastel a few days ago) told me he paints acrylic on an office supply copy paper which is acid-free.  Roaming around Office Depot recently, I discovered a heavy weight, acid-free vellum bristol.  Also comes in 110 weight but could only find smooth.  The reason for using the vellum bristol is that the texture is better for pencil drawing than smooth.  The experiment above proves that it's also good for pastel.  I used Nupastels and so far don't know how it would hold up for soft pastels.  More experiments will follow.  At about fourteen dollars for 250 sheets, this paper is perfect for using in my Artist Bootcamp for quick sketches.  And if a masterpiece is created, the acid-free paper should last for awhile.  Some of the sanded pastel papers on the market are so expensive that it's inhibiting to use as a learning/practice surface.  So this vellum paper is quite a deal!