Comments about Ampersand Pastelbord:

I use the Pastelbord exclusively with PrismaColor Pencils. It is the only surface I have found that I can add light onto dark. Which is a great treat for people who use wax based pencils. I first found this product on a colored pencil tutorial and was thrilled to find the boards on DickBlick.com
I am curious if people who use oils varnish the board. I'm trying to find ways that will make my pencil drawings standup better against fading from UV rays.
Since the first time using this board - this is all I will use. I would like to see some bigger sizes or even different dimensions, but that is my only suggestion.

Comments about Ampersand Pastelbord:

I use Ampersand Pastelbords for all of my pastel portraits of pets and/or their people. I can put multiple layers on and even gently scrub off pastel if desired. I used to go right through papers, and was delighted when I found this product!

Comments about Ampersand Pastelbord:

I was attracted to the Pastelbord for it's very clean and sublime finish. It has teeth but not so prominant that it looks like average sandpaper like others out there do. I like it's museum quality.

I use pastel pencils a majority of the time but the only draw back I can see is that on ocassion if you are layering colors to watch how much blending you do as you could peel off the layer underneath. It is a directional effort in smoothing the pastels out. So if the cheek goes in a curve then blend in that direction and so forth.

I like the durability of the boards, however the colored boards are harder to photograph your work as it picks up a glare or dullness. My recommendation there is to then scan your piece to get the finer details in. More often the white boards are better at getting full image quality.

Comments about Ampersand Pastelbord:

This review stands in stark contrast to all the others on this board, and until now I would have joined all the others. My experience up to now has been all 5 star.
I have used the board off and on for over a year, and always liked it a lot. I have found that it does not take many layers of pastels, but never had to throw a painting out until now.
I was doing a pastel portrait, 16x20 on sand colored board, and an area just next to the person's nose completely lost it's tooth. I had not even worked the area very much, but the dark color showing through completely ruined this portrait and I have to start over.
I did try every trick I knew, heard about or could find on the internet, but this small area would no longer hold any pastel at all and I could not cover this dark blotch.
I am sure this is a fluke, but I am not inclined to take a chance on this board in the future. You only have to have this happen once to change surfaces permanently.

Comments about Ampersand Pastelbord:

I am a new Pastel Artist and had been satisfied with my pastels on the papers. Until I was introduced to this sanded papers I am hooked can imagine another type of medium to work on. Some how my works became almost effortless. I love it. One day i do hope to show work as well as others do.
I love pastels

Comments about Ampersand Pastelbord:

Pastelbord by Ampersand is a beautiful board to work on. I consider it a fantastic deal because of the quality of the product verses paper or making my own pastel board. It makes using pastels seem easy and the colors are brilliant because of the way this board holds the pastels. It is possible to get very nice details and I like that the support is a board and is stronger and more durable than other surfaces.
The only thing that may be considered a drawback is the inabilty I've had to completely erase or wash off a painting that I didn't like. I don't find this to be a big problem because I can go over whatever didn't come off with the new painting.
I would definitly recommend this product to a friend or a stranger.

Comments about Ampersand Pastelbord:

I use this board for soft pastel and it holds many, many layers while remaining clean and crisp. The feel is deceptive compared to some other supports, but it really does the job. I would highly recommend this to any pastelist.

Comments about Ampersand Pastelbord:

Its fun to draw on, but I do colored pencils and it has a lot of tooth, which grinds down the pencil pretty quick and does not allow for a really fine line. I also mixed colored pencil and watercolor paints and that was nice to work with

Comments about Ampersand Pastelbord:

i purchased some pastelbords to use for colored pencils (even though most folks use the product for pastels), and it was fantastic. the quality was excellent. the surface was consistent and performed better than i expected. the quality of the packaging was superb so the product arrived in excellent condition.

Comments about Ampersand Pastelbord:

These work really well with both colored pencils and pastels.