Today, I'm using Ampersand Pastelboard for the first time. My pastel paintings are usually done on Sennerlier's LaCarte paper, but I wanted to try a firmer support. I am also interested in framing without a mat and I'm hoping that pastelboard might be the answer. I'm working on a painting of an orchid.
I thought that I'd do something a bit different from the rodeo paintings that I've been doing for a while. However, the next piece is probably going to be the bull rider that I've got prepped and ready to go.
At this point, on the pastelboard, I've painted in the background with PanPastels. I'm not sure how much I like it. The sponge that I was using to apply the PanPastels kept disintigrating onto the board, which was distracting to say the least. I'll keep the deep ultramarine color which I used for the background until I get more of the orchid painted in. Then I'll take another look at it and make a final decision. I'll post a photo of the WIP tomorrow. I work in a realistic manner and employ a lot of finger blending. The LaCarte paper blends wonderfully and you are able to push the pastel dust in any different direction. At this point, I haven't found another paper which blends as nicely. I hoping that the Ampersand comes close. I'll post my results tomorrow.