Using My color pencils on Pastelmat

[@YogaCandi]

First of all wow, stunning drawing. I can't wait to try my colour pencils on pastelmat. Thank you x

[@Lorens-art]

OMG Cassandra I just read your bio, FIVE KIDS are you crazy!!?? When on earth do you serious get time for Art?? Couldn't agree with your feelings on the subject more. Only discovered art for myself 2 and a half yrs ago and its changed my life. Ironically my Mum is a Graphic Designer and painter so I was surrounded by art all my life. Funny how life can throw things at you that you don't see it bc you're not ready. Please keep finding time for your art you are utterly amazing. Loren :)

[@Da_s_ArtWorld]

Beautiful painting! This pastel mat is my favorite paper for colored pencils!

[@leesanchez8432]

This was a lovely piece of artwork and thank you for the review.

[@nfraser7711]

You are so talented your pencil work is beautiful

[@bluelight017]

Thankyou. Yes I have enjoyed this. Great commentary alongside brilliant artwork 😊

[@janem291]

Thanks so much for this very entertaining video-your artwork is beautiful!

[@rubykeiss1540]

Oh my giddy aunt this is gorgeous! You got around that flaw so skillfully. Thank you for the demo.

[@annihilator45]

Wow, that painting is fabulous! I Love pastelmat for pastels. Thanks for sharing this video 😊.

[@Lorens-art]

Oh Cassandra thank you so much for trying out this Pastel Mat by Clairefontane, I have seen and heard it being used with Pan Pastels REALLY well and I was worried that all my beautiful expensive pencils may have been EATEN when using it. I have been "ifing and buting" about buying the expensive paper but your video has convinced me to send the $8 and buy it. I can't wait for it to get here now. I am a Mum of 2 kids living in Melbourne and colored pencil (portraits inparticular) are what I preferred media, but my Mum gave me a cheap 12 set of pastel skin tone pencils just recently, and I have to say, I was really impressed. I have always shied away from pastels because of the dust and mess, but not only do they blend really easy but they erase too!!!! I am hoping to mix the media with the Clairefontane Pastel Mat and see what happens. Your video was ACE, I loved it and the drawing was absolutely beautiful and jaw dropping to watch. You're work is breath taking. Thanks heaps, Loren :)

[@mctorres2679]

Amazingly beautiful

[@emilyerdbeere9210]

It is so a lovelely Bird! Wonderful artwork 👍❤️ I also love Pastelmat in combination with my Polychromos. It’s amazing. But it is very expensive 😬

[@juliewhitehead4432]

Great piece Cassandra, I also have found the Pastelmat surface to be inconsistent----- I always inspect the surface now before I start a new piece. Thanks again for your time Julie

[@amanbekovdaniel4330]

New video!!! Yaaas! Beautiful work Cassandra ;)

[@tabithapost2433]

Nice job Cassandra! I just got some expensive (!) pastelmat paper myself to try out. I really love this paper, because you can get away with light colours over dark colours, unlike e.g. Fabriano Artistico watercolour paper, which I used until now. And above all, it's possible to get quite some detail within a drawing too.

[@Gabihorse]

I love how you narrate your video hahaha just subscribed !! Loved to know also about your adventures with the pastelmat because I AM GOING THROUGH THE SAME THING RIGHT NOW! hahahahaha

[@moonspiritartbycindyhill1084]

Lover this piece

[@deirdrewoolford7476]

Thanks so much. I found it so informative as I'd like to use the pastelmat

[@deejay2838]

I love how this came out! I am gonna have to head out to pick some pastelmat up...almost bought some last month, but I was in need of pencils. I can hardly believe it only took a few hours to complete!...Thanks for sharing ! HAGD!

[@adambourkeproduction]

Love it Cass!!! 10/10

[@CassandraHanley]

Thank you :)

[@SarahNewburyArt]

Wow! Amazing artwork!! I recently tried this paper and loved it! One of my subscribers warned me about ‘faults’ in the coating of the paper but I didn’t have this problem (yet!) it’s disappointing as it’s so expensive.. I’m going to try velour paper next.. have you tried that? 😊

[@philkennedy8462]

First time I’ve seen your tutorials brill to watch and listen too :)) like your style of chat on here :))👍👍

[@rebeccawong1]

Brilliant …❤️❤️❤️

[@theodellava]

Wow amazing! 😍😍

[@margclement5606]

beautiful work and commentary

[@lovelycorinne]

As always amazing

[@Marykk1448]

Beautiful

[@loischriss6261]

Hi Cassandra, I'm pretty sure you can buy the pastelmat from theartshop.com.au as well. So hard sourcing good paper and knowing which ones to use!

[@CassandraHanley]

I can’t get it from theartshop.com.au .. but my local art shop has just installed a pastelmat stand!! Eeeeekkk! I’m so excited! They’re not entirely “open” at the moment ( purchases are via appointment) but I’m super duper stoked to be able to buy this paper locally

[@carlaa.1617]

You did a great job on this piece Cassandra especially as you had a problem with the paper! $8.00 a sheet, wow that is so expensive! After seeing how beautifully your Kookaburra turned out I must give it another try with CP's. I only ever used it once with CP's but as I am not a fan of the mess Panpastels and pastel pencils make I need to use this paper with something:)

[@chriswhitehouse8982]

You would certainly pay more for a canvas if you were doing a painting. Try looking at it that way.

[@moonspiritartbycindyhill1084]

I love using pastelmat for my pastel pencils

[@wycole70]

Ive heard that the backside of Canson Mi Teintes Pads works similarly. By the way do you have a link to the wildlife refuge Photos?

[@EifosArt]

You worked around that fault in the paper beautifully, I couldn't even see it afterwards 😃 However, I've seen the same inconsistencies in the pastelmat, which is frustrating.

[@CassandraHanley]

I’ve come across a couple at faults in my sheets since then, not quite as bad as this one, but still... considering the price it’s beyond annoying! I haven’t found anything that works quite as well though, so I must say that despite the faults I am falling further and further in love with the surface!

[@huongtrinh8609]

thank you

[@Beadersdelight]

Like your video demonstration, you sketch this bird by memory ? need to know what brand coloured pencils, what sort thinner on what paper? I've drew ages ago, but kind of like to do it probably & refresh my understanding, Thanks very much!

[@CassandraHanley]

Oh I definitely use reference.. Trying to draw from my memory is like trying to draw with soup... all mushy, squishy and nothing seems to stick right lol! Reference image for this one was from wildlifereferencephotos.com I drew this mostly using polychromos pencils and any old odourless thinner from the oil painting section of the art store will do!

[@cathysparks2797]

How does one transfer a drawing to pastelmat? Light pads don’t work, I tried. Any suggestions? Thanks

[@CassandraHanley]

I use graphite transfer paper, but I like to use a nice, crusty old piece that doesn't lay too much graphite down... then I press reasonably hard to get the transfer to work. sounds very counter- productive!! but new sheets lay down very dark pigment that can be extremely hard to lift and if you don't press hard enough, nothing happens... so its Its not the easiest paper to transfer onto. I only transfer the absolute minimum of guidelines ( eye position, face shape etc) and draw in any extra details as i go

[@dawnjames8888]

Love this piece could you do it as a tutorial ? I was amazed at how quickly you completed it. I have just started trying pastlemat and find the tooth shows even after many layers. Do you have any advice ?

[@franrobertson9024]

I've bought a small amount of pastelmat from softpastel.com.au too. The white sheet had a flaw like a gouge about 2cm long, and a few scattered pits in the surface that meant I couldn't use the sheet in one piece. I had to cut it down. I emailed the company to let them know, but I heard nothing back. I do Botanical subjects with no background, so that sheet as it was, would have been a big disappointment if I had planned a work a certain size. The surface is very nice to work on, I agree, Cassandra, although erasing is a problem. Kneaded erasers will lift off a certain amount, but not back to the original surface in my experience. It is a treat to be able to layer lights over dark! So...swings and roundabouts.😉

[@CassandraHanley]

Colour pencils erase so easily from other sanded surfaces that I was surprised to see it was so difficult to remove from the pastelmat. It really does "grab" that pencil securely!

[@CassandraHanley]

btw, I am somewhat glad, but very annoyed that I am not the only one with an iffy surface :/

[@lauracarey6440]

Hello I use pastel on pastelmat But am wanting to try coloured pencils. Could you recommend which type you like for this paper, and what solvent, since I’ve never tried it! Thankyou Laura in Canada Love your work!!!!

[@CassandraHanley]

I generally prefer the polychromos for pastelmat. They are a bit less waxy and don’t “gum up” the tooth of the paper as much, but in this case the luminance worked beautifully for the skin tones however I haven’t done enough portraits on pastelmat to give a definitive answer. I do like to use odourless mineral spirits as a solvent, but you have to be super duper careful, because the pastel mat picks up a lot more pigment than standard paper and even a tiny bit of solvent will get those pigments FLYING around the paper. Try to use a very dry brush first and only add solvent very slowly to reduce moving colours to much

[@felicianoel4880]

It's lovely . Is this a particular brand of pastel mat ? I heard of Clairfoutain and see that it comes in numbers such 3,4, 5 6 . Not sure what the numbers mean . Thank you for sharing your talent

[@lindamclean8809]

I do pet portraits and I love using pastelmat

[@kitbea7604]

Excellent

[@brendankeogh4669]

what brand of coloured pencils would you suggest to use ontop of PanPastels?

[@CassandraHanley]

100% polychromos. The pan pastels seem to work best on textured surfaces ( they to work on other papers.. just not so easy to layer)... and the polychromos work so well on textured surfaces too, waxier pencils seem to be easier to "gum up" the tooth of the paper too easily

[@brendankeogh4669]

Cassandra Hanley thanks, and they are half the price of caran d’ache. Can’t justify paying $380 AUD for a set of Caran D’ache pencils just to use as details over pan pastels

[@elcaminante500]

it`s a cookaburra bird, right?? I have some polychromos pencils but i don`t know the pastelmat paper ... whatever I `m keeping and drawing on paper and duplex cardboard, that`s a cheap material that I discovered recently... congrats to Casandra, you are an extraordinary artist

[@Penciledbykay]

Have you ever tried colored pencils on matte drafting paper?

[@CassandraHanley]

No, but I’d like to try one day

[@lindamclean8809]

Love it

[@marionwigzell7334]

Beautiful piece Cassandra. I just purchased some Pastelmat to try too. Have you tried the new smooth Colourfix? At least it's easier to get in Aus and a lot less expensive, so I 'm hoping it might be comparable.

[@CassandraHanley]

I have used the colourfix... they are similar in some ways, but also very different. I did do a video about a year ago where I used colourfix for the first time kzbin.info/www/bejne/naDVmGefjtyIi5o ... The quick roundup of differences would be, the pastelmat was much smoother to the touch, much harder to erase any mistakes but much easier to use with the OMS thinners. Overall I would prefer the pastelmat - except for the cost!

[@nathantom5644]

Wow superbe 💞

[@catkin54]

Are you using pastels AND coloured pencils in this?

[@CassandraHanley]

this one is just coloured pencils

[@vivienlawson7256]

Love

[@katywuste9054]

Is it a kookaburra? Whatever it is it’s a phenomenal drawing

[@CassandraHanley]

Yes! It is indeed a kookaburra! I don't think I actually mentioned that! :/

[@katywuste9054]

Cassandra Hanley wow not bad for a UK dweller

[@lorrainestern8160]

Your drawing looks great Cassandra. Funny how we are all so different.....I bought a pad of Pastelmat a while ago and hated it, then after reading your review decided to give it another go - still hate it :) I find I can't get enough detail with it and I hate the weird feel of it, however it's wonderful to see the success (except for the flaw) that you had with it.

[@CassandraHanley]

That's exactly why I could never say any kind of art supply was the "best". So much comes down to personal taste and technique, what works brilliantly for one artist can easily be absolute rubbish for another.

[@attheranch873]

Thank you that was helpful!

[@nikkieyeque]

Pastelmat!!!! so expensive in Australia!!!

[@fauxurfancy]

Pastelmat is amazing! You got a defective piece and they should replace it. So sorry that happened to you.

[@rosered8234]

Me too with the terrible faults on the paper 😔!! Its really saddening . There are also numerous other people complaining about this regular defect in pastel mat! If its not lines - its divets , or dints , or scratches all around the edges, either way its not on for such an expensive paper , people have phoned the help line & got replacements !! Maybe ring them up !! As you sounded dissatisfied & disappointed ! As you should be ! But you’re art is amazing , beautiful plucky little bird & as you said a casual viewer may not see the defects . But deffo complain ! They need to adress the manufacturing faults that are still happening , I bought mine off amazon! It was a pad , the last 4 sheets had the damage . Anyway , i still love PM , But am wary now & dont trust it Shame

[@moonspiritartbycindyhill1084]

Wow. My first piece and s going to be a koala on pastelmat

[@CassandraHanley]

I would ;love to see it when it is finished :)

[@Peeachez]

I’ve been binge watching your video... I

[@robertlion3937]

I miei complimenti peccato che non è in italiano.

[@CassandraHanley]

Mi dispiace! vorrei poter parlare italiano (usato google traduttore, quindi spero che abbia senso)

[@robertlion3937]

Grazie ugualmente 😄

[@cherylsturdevant6811]

Beautiful

[@nathantom5644]

Wow superbe 💞