Pastelmat Pastel Paper Detailed Review

Clairefontaine Pastelmat is a premium surface that many artists, myself included, have come to rely on. It has a unique cellulose fibre coating, creating a velvety, smooth texture that grips pigment like no other.

Available in 14 rich colours—from bright white and soft gray to warm sienna and deep anthracite—these shades let you choose the perfect backdrop to enhance your artwork’s mood or contrast. It comes in three forms: pads of 10 sheets, full sheets you can cut to size, and mounted boards for extra stability

Popular among pastel artists and a firm favourite for coloured pencil artists like myself, its delicate coating demands careful handling to avoid scratches.

For this review, I tested Brown Pastelmat from a pad with Cretacolor pastel pencils and Faber-Castell Polychromos, focusing on layering, blending, and light-over-dark applications.

Pastelmat paper (Brown) demonstrating light-over-dark coloured pencil application, alongside tests showing its excellent layering for both pastel and coloured pencils.

My test swatches on Brown Clairefontaine Pastelmat, demonstrating light-over-dark application, blending, and linework with Cretacolor pastel pencils and Faber-Castell Polychromos.

Performance of Pastel and Colored Pencils on Pastelmat

Both Cretacolor pastel pencils and Faber-Castell Polychromos glide smoothly on to Pastelmat, laying down even, vibrant color with minimal dust on initial layers.

The brown shade I tested, as seen in my swatches, added warmth to the palette, making light colours pop, while lighter shades like white or grey could brighten blends for a different effect.

Compared to sanded surfaces like Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, which can wear pencils down with their abrasive grit, Pastelmat’s softer, organic texture is kinder to pencil tips, making it a joy for detailed work. Its fine tooth supports extensive layering - often exceeding six layers -allowing deep saturation and complex optical mixing without losing grip.

Light coloured pencils, especially Polychromos, shine brilliantly over darker layers, making Pastelmat ideal for highlights and adjustments - check the white over purple swatch for proof!

Linework with both mediums is sharp and clean, rivaling the precision of smoother papers while offering better pigment adhesion than sanded papers, which can feel too rough for fine details.

Blending pastel pencils takes some adaptation. Finger blending often lifts pigment, resulting in paler colours, and cotton buds are ineffective. Instead, layering or gentle use of Sofft tools preserves richness.

Coloured pencils, by contrast, blend seamlessly through layering alone, requiring no extra tools—a real advantage for artists like me who love their Polychromos.

Benefits and Ideal Uses

Pastelmat excels for artists seeking:

Deep, vibrant results through extensive layering and strong pigment adhesion, reducing the need for fixative.
Effective light-over-dark application, especially with colored pencils, for highlights and details.
Sharp, clean linework for detailed work with both pastel and colored pencils.
A versatile, archival surface that’s gentler on pencils than sanded papers and more refined than laid papers, supporting mixed media like watercolours or acrylics alongside pencils.
It's strong pigment grip means fixative is optional for coloured pencils, keeping your artworks vibrant for years.
It’s perfect for detailed, archival-quality artworks combining pastel and coloured pencils, especially where rich colour and light-over-dark techniques are important.

Cons for Pastel Pencils (and Coloured Pencils) on Pastelmat

Delicate Surface Requires Care: The unique coated surface, while excellent for holding pigment, is prone to scratches from sharp tools, heavy pressure (e.g., ruler edges), or fingernails. Damaged areas are tough to conceal.
Blending Challenges (Pastel Pencils): Finger blending lifts pigment, requiring layering or Sofft tools for best results
Premium Price: Pastelmat’s superior quality and versatility come at a higher cost than traditional laid papers or standard drawing surfaces.

Despite these limitations, Pastelmat remains a top choice for colored pencil artists, as I’ll explain next.

Suitability for Coloured Pencils on Clairefontaine Pastelmat

Outstanding. Clairefontaine Pastelmat is a top choice for many coloured pencil artists, myself included, because its fine tooth handles wax- and oil-based pencils with ease, maintaining grip even after multiple layers.

Unlike sanded surfaces that can be harsh on pencils or laid papers that don't hold many layers, Pastelmat strikes a perfect balance—smooth yet toothy—allowing deep saturation, seamless blending through layering, and crisp details.

Its ability to make light colours pop over dark underlayers makes all the difference for highlights and refinements.

My Tip and Verdict for Clairefontaine Pastelmat

Clairefontaine Pastelmat lives up to its stellar reputation as a superb, high-performance surface for both pastel pencils and traditional coloured pencils.

Its unique ability to hold what feels like countless layers while still feeling relatively smooth to the touch sets it apart from the abrasive sanded surfaces.

Add to that its capacity to allow light coloured pencil applications to really stand out over darker layers which is a significant advantage that many artists will appreciate.

For coloured pencil artists, it's an absolute dream offering unmatched depth, vibrant colours and light-over-dark brilliance without wearing down your pencils.

While its premium price and delicate surface require respect, the stunning, archival-quality results justify the investment for serious pieces.

Whether you’re layering Polychromos for rich saturation on a warm sienna sheet or adding delicate highlights on bright white, Pastelmat encourages your pencils to perform at their best. Try it for your next detailed artwork—you won’t be disappointed!

Verdict: Clairefontaine Pastelmat is a premium choice for pastel and colored pencil artists, offering unmatched layering, vibrant colors, and striking light-over-dark effects. Its delicate surface requires careful handling, but the archival-quality results justify the cost for serious pieces. Try it for your next detailed artwork—you won’t be disappointed!

Where to Go Next?

To understand how Pastelmat fits into the wider world of pastel surfaces, or to revisit the fundamental principles of choosing any pastel paper, please see my Ultimate Guide to Choosing Pastel Paper for Artists.

If you're interested in comparing Pastelmat to other types of surfaces, you might like to explore my reviews of:

Happy drawing, and I hope you find the perfect paper for your next masterpiece!