I have used PastelMate before and really like it but I needed to size up from 9 x 12 “. I am happy that I could find the larger pad at Dakota.

I love this paper, it holds so many layers of pastel, is relatively smooth, very flat or forgiving.

Hard to believe that this surface, so smooth to the touch, yields so many layers, especially with a light touch, and it's great if you're a finger-blender. Now one of my two favorite surfaces, I love the anthracite (charcoal grey) color--really brings out vivid colors.

I love PastelMat. It can handle underpaintings well using 70% alcohol and it really holds the pastels. The variety of colors is good too.

PastelMat is great quality paper to work on.

Just purchased the smallest pad with the yellows and grays, love that the pads come with glassine, and the back board is really sturdy and firm.

PastelMat is great surface for pastel, and colored pencil. It holds up to water and alcohol wash. It can be gently dry scrubbed or even washed when you decide on a do over. Finger blending on pastelmat will not remove your finger prints! There are many great pastel surfaces to use but pastelmat is the only one I panic over if I run out. Thanks to Dakota Pastel I can easily keep stocked up❤️

Pastelmat is a great paper to work on with pastels. There is just enough tooth to hold layers of pastel and not eat up your pastels. It is smooth enough to let you do fine detail work. Excellent product. I ordered different coloured Pastelmat pads to try out and I can't wait to get started. Thank you Dakota Art.

Love this surface. While I enjoy several others, I most often return to this product.

Found damage to the pad corner. Looks like the pad may have slipped around during shipment.

I like the working surface. I also like 400 grade sanded paper.

This is my all time favorite of surfaces that I have tried. It is a little more money but we’ll worth it!

PastelMat is the best and only paper that I will use. The surface is relatively smooth to the touch but holds multiple layers of pastel. It doesn't scrape away your pastels and there is little to no dropping pastel dust. Once a piece is finished, the pastel is extremely stable - no need for fixatives. It comes in several colors. I highly recommend this paper.

Holds soft pastel so well it requires less spray, dark shades make colors brighter, the only drawback is it doesn’t take pastel pencil.

They work size wise for many of my commissions and I just LOVE the surface!!!

Love it! Finally tried Pastelmat after seeing so many use it. Holds a lot of pastel and easy to manipulate. Definitely added to my short list of substrates.

Received within 5 days! Great product. Great price. I love pastelmat's ability to accept many layers and then even pencil on top!

I have worked with watercolors for years and pastels are new to me. As in watercolor we need to find the paper that best suits our painting needs. I have really enjoyed working with the Pastelmat. It takes many layers and is a great work horse paper. I’ve tried several papers and I keep coming back to this one. I find that by layering the pigments thinly it allows me to glaze many times more than some of the other papers.

I have been using Pastel Mat for a year and I am convinced this is the best paper ever. Light pencil marks can be removed with an eraser. You can do an underpainting with watercolor or pastel smeared with alcohol. It holds the pastel better than any other paper I have used and comes in a wide variety of colors and white. I find I don't want to use any other papers.

Love the pastelmat paper. My only complaint is that the adhesive in the pad is so strong, I tore some spots along the glued edge trying to get one sheet detached. Other than that, love the size, and love the color groups in each pad.

For the very first time, I’m disappointed with a pad of pastelmat. I’ve bought a fair number of the pastelmat pads but this was the first time I bought the white. There are flaws that affect the final painting. The little spots that are missing the coating are easily dealt with but the indentation scratches are not. This is a PastelMat issue and not a reflection on Dakota. The single sheets seem to have a better quality control simply by virtue of not being compressed into a pad.

Great product to work on.

Loving this paper. Colors are vibrant and smooth.

I like the pastel at use it all the time. I couldn’t get it in the color and size I wanted because they were out of stock. Will keep watching for them.

Great paper, love the Pastel Mat above all others. All that I have ever bought and all the advice I have asked for, have been each and every time such a great experience. You are the best and I thank you for such care.

Pastelmat pad and Pan pastel set arrived in Perfect condition. Would buy again.

I hate writing this review since PastelMat is the only surface I've used for the past 4 years. My last 2 orders of 12x16 White PastelMat arrived curled and warped at the unbound end of each pad. It is less noticeable in the manufacturers shrink wrap but as soon as it is removed all 12 sheets curl up along all three sides away from the pads back backboard. Even the back board is slightly warped but less so than the 12 pages. I've tried flattening (under heavy books) and reverse curling each sheet. But it's never satisfactory and applying pastel over an undulating surface is difficult and annoying with unacceptable results. The packages have always arrived dry and undamaged. My guess is the manufacturers shrink wrap is too tight and causing this. It has never been a problem before and given the premium cost of PastelMat it should arrive in perfect condition. Help!

My go-to paper.

My number one choice as the foundation for my pastel paintings is Pastel Mat. You can get layer upon layer, the layers go on smoothly, the blending is phenomenal, and the dust is almost non existent. I have been open and tried other surfaces but I always go back to Pastel Mat.

Love the convenience of the pads for plein air

Pastelmat is definitely my favorite pastel surface. I am always amazed just how many layers of pastel I can apply to this surface and it always seems to take more. Works very well with watercolor underpaintings and it doesn’t curl like some other surfaces. Also like that in tablet format each piece comes with protective cover sheet. I also like the variety of paper colors. I’ve purchased several pads to give as presents for my painting friends.

Works great with soft pastels.

This paper takes a bit of getting used to. Unlike sanded paper you can use your fingers to blend to some extent in the beginning. However it takes several layers before easier blending can be done, with your finger or pastels. The beauty of this paper is exactly that when you put a stroke down be definite about where you want it as it’s there and therefore it’s brilliance is kept intact. A stunning paper that turns pastel strokes to jewels and keeps their integrity intact.

I am a novice when it comes to pastels. They hadn't ever been my favorite medium to use, as I preferred watercolor or alcohol based markers, but in retrospect I believe that's only because I felt intimidated by the possibilities pastel had to offer. I have since fallen head over heels! I now use Rembrandt pastels & Faber Castell Pitt Pencils as my brands of choice for the medium. Before, I had struggled to use them to their full potential on ordinary pastel paper. I finally got up the nerve to buy the PastelMat and fell in love with how brightly the colors standout and how easy it is to add layers without over blending the colors. (Especially adding light over dark colors.) I amazed at the quality and baffled that I never tried this paper sooner. 100% will buy again.

Consistently high quality, holds many layers of pastel, accepts wet media. Bullet proof.

This is a lovely pastel paper. It works well with all sorts of under painting techniques. It has an unexpected velvety finish (unlike other sanded papers), but it holds the pastel layers very well. The paper pads come with glassine between the sheets which is really convenient once you’ve finished your painting.

My Pastelmat pads arrived - nicely packed with bubble wrap to prevent damaged edges. I ordered it through customer service representative. She was very cordial and even compared prices for me. I was asking if it was less costly to order the sheets individually or in a pad. I’m sure I could have figured that out eventually- but so nice to have someone do the simple math for me! As far as the product itself, I’m a fan of Pastelmat paper as I have used before-,but can’t wait to try underpainting on it and also use the interesting colors I’ve not used before! Many thanks, Mary Scott Blake,

First sheet unfortunately had a flaw (crease line across the bottom). Not sure if that was why they were on sale?

I have been wanting to use the pastelmat paper ever since I started using soft pastels and pastel pencils. I'm glad I waited two years to purchase them, because I can fully appreciate how amazing these papers are. They hold the pastels really well and you can layer and layer pastels easily. And that pesky pastel dust, using the pastelmat eliminates that and I can use my colored pencil over the pastel for details. I love this product. And I was so happy to discover the Dakota art pastel website and even happier when I saw they sold the pastelmat. I'm not buying my pastels from anyone but Dakota pastels.

I love this paper. When you first feel it you cannot believe that it holds the pastel as well as it does. It is amazing at holding many layers. Great to travel with, very little dust. However, if you are an artist who likes to finger blend then you might be frustrated with this product. You cannot blend with your finger until the tooth is almost completely full. You can however blend with the pastels. Its wonderful paper.

My current favorite. Likes; texture & tooth, colors, glassine in thepads. Don’t like; sometimes there is a pattern on the painting surface which eliminates my ability to paint lightly without the pattern showing, would like more middle value colors.