This blog is directed to pastel artists, or to those who are thinking about pasteling. I wanted to share a subject that took me awhile to discover on my own. That is, what kind of paper to use for the best results in painting a pastel landscape. Let me say first, you can use soft pastel on most any surface. It just depends on how you want the end result to look. The paper is so important. I began my pastel journey using velour pastel paper - great for realistic hair, fur etc, but oh so much work. The pastel kept disappearing. I then experimented with smooth surfaces as Pastel Mat, Color Fix , Canson all great papers and good for detailed, realist work. I liked these surfaces, especially for portraits, but for landscapes I wanted a more textured surface. I experimented with all kinds of textured papers and boards. I even made my own surface on gatorbord with a mixture of pumice and acrylic gel ( I also used this mixture on wood). I still use my own textured surface at times. A couple years ago, an artist friend gave me a scrap of UArt 400g sanded paper. I was delighted with this surface and it became my primary ground for landscapes. It works well with underpainting. Underpainting !!! Well, that's another subject for another blog.