Choosing paper for charcoal and pastel drawing is a personal matter, depending on your working method and the hardness of your preferred medium. The key to a good dry-medium paper is tooth. This refers to the rough textured surface that drags the particles from the stick or pencil, and holds them to the paper. Some papers have a tooth like a wire bug screen, others have a surface like velvet. Its a matter of personal taste, so try a few to see which suit you best.
65 percent rag, gelatin sized and acid-free, Canson Ingres paper has a laid finish to mimic that used by the old masters. Available in 21 colors in 19 x 21 inch sheets. At 100gsm, Ingres is quite a lightweight paper.
Fabriano is the oldest paper mill in Europe, still producing reliably superior papers. Tiziano has a pronouched tooth that holds plenty of pastel. This paper is a nice weight at 160 gsm. It comes in a 20 x26 inch sheet in a range of colors.
Hahnemühle Velour sheets 19" × 27" (48 cm × 69 cm) 260 gsm. The fibre adhered to the surface of this beautiful paper provide an even tooth perfect for soft pastel and charcoal, with excellent medium-holding properties. Available in a range of light earth tones, red, yellow, green, white and black. Also available in pad form and boards.
This paper is 100% cotton, acid free with a laid pattern. At 64 lbs (95 gsm), its a little light for my preference - I also prefer a velours surface to a laid pattern to work on - but many artists prefer the traditional look of the laid surface. It comes in white, black, and a range of subtle neutral colors.
Colourfix papers are 19.5x27.5in sheets of 140 lb. watercolor paper screenprinted with lightfast acrylic, offering a pronounced tooth for pastel drawing. The manufacturer claims the surface will allow multiple layers of pastel witout fixing. Colourfix Primer is also available separately.
66% Rag, gelatin sized, acid free, 160 gsm paper, 150 cm / 59 inches wide, in 10m / 11 yard rolls. This hard-to-get pastel drawing paper is available in a limited range of colors, and it doesn't come cheap. But working THAT large on paper is a marvellous experience.
Ok, so it isn't archival, its terribly lightweight, cheap and nasty... but where would art students be without newsprint? Great for figure drawing classes and rough sketching (I actually like its surface for charcoal drawing, despite its poor archival qualities). Available in pads and sheets - really large sheets are the best, so you have plenty of room for expressive mark making.
Newsprint rolls let you tear off as much as you need, work large or small, and are generally handy to have in the art room for a range of uses. (Make your own giftwrap with the kids!) Sometimes you can get 'end rolls' from the printers of your local newspaper, but if not, Pacon make 36 inch/91 cm wide newsprint rolls with 100ft / 30 m of paper that come in a dispenser box.
9. Amalfi Handmade Pastel Paper
Hand made in Italy, Amalfi is the Rolls Royce of pastel papers. It is Acid free/ph neutral, 100% cotton, mould made and internally sized. 150gsm/70lb, in 19.7 x 27.5 inch (50x70 cm) sheets. Amalfi has a pronounced tooth for pastel drawing, and is available in a range of colors including white, cream, tan, sepia, dark green, grey, blue and black.
The vegetable fibre surface of this paper provides and even, fine tooth, without excessive texture, allowing layers of pastel to be applied and providing excellent pigment adhesion. Available in a range of earth tones.
