Sennelier La Carte Paper Review

I tested a new paper (new for me, that is) the other day. I painted a quick Persian cat portrait on Sennelier La Carte sanded paper and I used pastels. I have already tried this paper with pencils (wrong surface for pencils!) So, now I'm trying pastels. I have to say though, I didn't have high hopes due to what I had already seen in the paper.

La Carte paper is a stiff 200-lb paper that is not easily bent or creased. The surface of the paper is coated with vegetable fiber that actually comes off quite easily. When I rested my hand on the paper, the vegetable fiber was all over my hand when I picked it up, AND there was a bald spot on the paper! That bald spot cannot be covered up with pastels or pencils, so that means the paper, in that one spot, is not usable. If that bald spot happens to be in an area of your painting that cannot be cropped out, then you have a big problem.

In addition, when I blended the pastels with my fingers, as I usually do, the vegetable fiber came off and smooshed around on the paper along with the pastels. Not good.

Finally, hard pastels most definitely did NOT work with La Carte paper; they simply scraped the fiber right off the paper.

Needless to say, I will not be using this paper again. Since it is expensive, I will not miss paying the price for it either. Now, what to do with the left over paper??????


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Here's a little mini drawing I did for an artist trade on an artist forum that of which I am a member. Just a simple ole onion on black Stonehenge paper. I used Primsacolor Verithins and Premier colored pencils. I've been wanting to draw this onion for a while now. Size is 2.5" x 3.5".