I had been looking for a portable sketchbook for pastels that would have a good surface to work on and be easy for traveling. I like this product, especially the colors that are available and the glacine on each sheet. And, the page is perforated for easy removal. I’d like to see this with an option of a more sanded surface but I am happy with this product.

Have not used this paper before, and only just began a painting. I find it is a rough grit, so may not be suitable for every subject matter.

Colors are lovely. Paper reminds me of pastel grain. Love that there is the piece of vellum in between to protect finished work. Great for plein air.

This pastel sketchpad is a very elegant solution for a pastel sketchbook. I'm still a noob at soft pastels and most expensive sanded paper feels too precious to use. And then there's the storage factor - sketchbooks are so great to store and browse one's work. (I do know about clear gesso and using tracing paper pads for storage.) The surface is in the same realm as Pastelmat, but at a significantly lower price and more sheets (plus it's actually larger than 12x9, unlike the Pastelmat pads). The colors are very similar to the Pastelmat colors. The book is very high quality with an excellent spiral bind, perforated sheets, thick card, glassine interleaves and a very sturdy back. Perfect to take outside and use on one's lap with a Nomad set, making an easel and box unnecessary. It was really nice to be able to layer and layer, finally using a proper pastel paper. I'm sure I'll buy these again in the future.

Very good with alcohol wash and applying multiple layers. Very portable for plein air. I am really enjoying using these pads.

I bought this to try it out. Turns out this is a fantastic paper for soft pastels It doesn't hold as many layers as Lux or Pastel Premier, but it does pretty well. I will keep a couple of these around because they are fun to work with.

Very high quality spiral pad, paper similar to Pastelmat, but significantly cheaper. Pastelmat's spiral book with vellum only comes in white, so this is better in that regard too. Not to mention the beautiful cover art! Great size and has a tear out perforation (can frame in a 9x12 frame) Wonderful way to compactly store pieces you don't want to frame. Great to take out for casual plein air sketching with no easel (say, with the Nomad set). You can secure the vellum with tape loops to the back of the prior sheet to avoid it wrinkling as you work with it on your table or lap. Can't say enough good things about this pad, I'm sure I will buy many more!

I bought my initial pad because of the cover art Klimt is my favorite artist. As a beginner in the pastel art realm and this product has been great for me to practice. It will take a few layers of pastel and it will take a light alcohol spray or wash. I am very happy with this paper and have since my original purchased another. I recommend this product.

I have purchased 5 of these pads over the past year since Dakota first introduced them. I have never found another sketch book that can compare. The pages are extra heavy weight substrate, mounting quality for a professional level finished piece. The pages have smudge proof velum between sheets. The spiral binding keeps all nicely stored in place. I like both the light and dark shades. I use these mostly for multi layering of color pencil work with pastels and burnishing. The tooth holds many layers. If I find there is no more tooth left, I’ll apply a spray fixative and then can continue layering. I have not found another substrate in a spiral bound pad that is in anyway similar. . Plus, the attractive covers and unique Euro sized pages are a pleasure.

I Highly Recommend these Pastel Art Pads. I like them because I can use them to practice new techniques and test color mixtures. They are easy to just pick up and put away. I can see my improvements by quickly reviewing my previous work.

I've been looking for a pastel sketch pad with a texture I could enjoy. I don't care for the golf ball look of Canson nor the linen texture of others. I really enjoyed this pad. The paper is similar (but not the same) to Pastel Mat. The glassine pages between make it easy to transport your work. I was able to remove pages because they are perforated. I put my sketch behind matting for a clean finish. I recommend these. I purchased the dark and light.

The paper is a very nice weight with a nice tooth, the color selections are nice and the price is good enough that even though I am still in the learning process I am not afraid to use it up! I will definitely be ordering more soon!

I have not tried it yet, it looks interesting. Like the colors that is why I give it a 5 rating

The dark colors make your pastels zing, but the paper pads themselves are beautifully made and so portable. I have both a dark and light colored pad.

Very nice working pad with dark colors. I got the Botticelli design. Haven't used pastels on the paper yet, but glad to have some alternate colored backgrounds in my kit.

I've done a couple paintings on this stuff - the bumpy (not pumice sharp) tooth is kinda like La Carte Pastel Card. I use a lot of soft (Blue Earth, Richeson etc) pastels and the tooth fills up quickly. It will take additional layers, but subsequent layers lay down smooth, they don't have the pastel texture they would on, say, UArt 600. It's a handy format, wire bound with interleaved tracing paper. I have only tried the dark pad - the colors aren't real dark, maybe 3/10. You can put darker colors on it.

I have only used one sheet of the paper with my pastels. It has some similarities to Pastelmat but with a more textured surface. You can move the pastel around a little better than PM but using a sponge is not effective as the pastel lifts from the paper. (I had to use my fingers to move or blend) On the positive side of this situation, it is fairly easy to remove pastel from the surface if you are unhappy with a mark mad or a section is just not working. I am not sure how well the pastel will stay adhered if applied in several layers. It does not hold as much pastel as UArt 400 or Luxarchival. I have not tried an underpainting as each paper is tinted so did not seem necessary,

I just received my new Mazzouli Pastel Pad and it’s a great paper to paint on. I really gave it a go and worked on backgrounds and how much pastel it takes, strokes and hard edges. It took the pastel great, I was able to blend a few sample backgrounds without making mud, it takes quite a few layers of pastel and I really like it comes with glassine between each page. I compared it with Pastelmat and it did not disappoint!