My First Look at LuxArchival Pastel Paper

'As Far as the Eye Can See'                 8x10              pastel               ©Karen Margulis
available $165

I was excited to get my recent order of goodies form Dakota. I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket! I selected a new Unison pastel set that I will be reviewing soon. I also ordered a pack of new pastel paper....LuxArchival sanded paper. I gave a piece a try today and so far I am quite pleased. Here are my thoughts after one painting:

I can't wait to do another painting! It handled like a dream and it is the first paper that reminded me of Wallis sanded paper. Many artists were sad when Wallis went out of production especially the white paper. White paper is so useful for wet underpainting such as watercolor. It allows the paint to appear cleaner and more vibrant than gray and even the pale yellow papers available.

 Lux paper claims to accept wet underpaintings without buckling or changing the sanded surface. I was hopeful but skeptical. After a very sloppy watercolor underpainting I was pleasantly surprised to see the paper dried perfectly flat! Hurray! This is a game changer when you want to paint without using mounted paper.

I also liked the slightly aggressive grit. It grabbed the pastel and was very even yet it wasn't too rough. Again it feels much like Wallis. 

I will be ordering some larger pieces of this paper and will enjoy doing a more through review soon!

watercolor underpainting

Here is a link as well as information from the Dakota Art Pastels website: https://www.dakotapastels.com/products/LuxArchival

LUXARCHIVAL PASTEL PAPER - 

Origin: France
Colors: 1
Sizes: 8"x 10", 16"x 20" & 24"x 36"
Weight: 300gsm

Introducing a new Professional Sanded Art Paper developed by colored pencil artist Alyona Nickelsen of Brush and Pencil.

LuxArchival is an excellent surface for Soft Pastel! The base paper is 100% Cotton, Acid-Free, Lignin Free, and a substantial 140 lb./300 gsm weight. The Archival surface will not yellow, darken or deteriorate in any way and will last 100+ years.

The sanded surface has an aggressive 400 grit, is even and consistent without any visible pattern. The extremely durable White surface handles any dry media, holds many layers of pastel, handling erasures, corrections and reworking without damage to the paper.

Suitable for ALL liquid underpainting mediums: handles Water, Alcohol and Odorless Mineral Spirits without buckling or softening the surface.

LuxArchival is available in White only and in three sheet sizes. Rolls of 48” x 5 yards will be available later this year.