Author: John Burton
Source: articlesbase.com

Firstly, there are the pastels themselves. They are made from pure powdered pigment bound with a small quantity of gum binder (low quality pastels have chalk added). Pastels come in many varieties (hard, soft, sticks, pencils, etc.) but they are essentially all the same: the final choice is largely a matter of personal preference. What’s probably more important is the type of paper you use with pastels. When pastel is drawn across a surface, the pigment crumbles, and so deposits on that surface. Using the right type of paper ensures that the deposited pastel sticks to the paper, and doesn’t just lounge on the surface. In other words, a good pastel paper will have a “tooth”, or grab. Tooth and texture are not the same things. Velour paper has a sumptuous soft texture, but not much tooth. Art Spectrum Colourfix type papers have little texture, but a fantastic tooth