Received well packaged and timely. Have not had opportunity to use yet.

It isn't strong enough and it does have the sand paper effect like u-art.

i DIDN'T LIKE THE TECHTURE OF THE PAPER. IT SEEM FLAT AND IT DIDN'T BLEND WELL.

I just wrote a review for Art Spectrum Colorfix which works well for my blending I continue to feel most comfortable with. I am very new to the art of pastels and after lots of money to succeed as the instructors I follow on Patreon, am choosing to begin again with what I am comfortable, somewhat satisfied with both paper and pastels. The first couple of small pieces on the Canson XL sand grain paper has allowed me to 'blend'. However it takes more attempts in the beginning to fill in the underpainting. Today I will do a watercolor underpainting and see if that helps. Yesterday I drymounted this to cardstock to give more stability. This paper is much more enjoyable for me than Canson MiTente and will always have it with my paper supplies.

I have found by using a PanPastel underpainting and then using medium and soft pastels on top (Rembrandt and Sennelier), this paper performs quite well! Sure it’s no UART or PastelMat, but for the price, this paper is hard to beat. I haven’t tried an alcohol wash yet, so it will be interesting to see how it holds up.

I bought a couple of pads of this new canson textured paper thinking it would be an inexpensive way to do color studies or work out a painting before using the more expensive sanded papers. I found the surface to be Dreadful, however. It's called sand grain but it's more like bumpy rubber. I have tried both soft pastels and pastel pencils on them, neither to good effect. The Pastels don't really blend, leaving an oddly light-colored background behind the sand grain AKA rubbery bumps. As unsatisfying as Canson Mi-teintes paper might be, I would far prefer it over this new "Sand Grain" textured paper! The only way I've found to use the sheets in the couple of pads that I bought are to apply gesso on top, then paint on the gesso.

The paper is ok for practice, but I much prefer sanded paper where I can get more vibrancy and layering.