It turns out that sandpaper was in use long before Pastelmat came along. Soft pastels were used alongside oil paints and, initially, applied in much the same way. The difference was barely noticeable. Later, other techniques were developed.
Since sandpaper has never been expensive – and is nowhere near as costly as Pastelmat – it is certainly worth a try.
Finer sandpaper is needed to hold the pastel in place.

It is not necessary to use a fixative (or hairspray) once the soft pastel painting is finished, although some say you should; it sounds more like a way to sell the product.

Where it (or hairspray) might help, however, is in creating an extra layer for the pastel to adhere to, which is particularly important for me when working with paper that doesn’t hold the many layers of pastel.

120-grit sandpaper didn’t work; it came off as soon as I lifted the paper. I pressed the powder onto it with my fingers and rubbed it in. Who knows, perhaps the spray will also help to ‘blow’ it in and ‘melt’ it in this case? It’s just an experiment. For now, it seems to be working fine. The colours even look better.

So my next step is to carry on with another layer and see how that turns out.

There’s a clear difference with 400-grit sandpaper, which is also easy to rub in with your fingers. Using brushes or sponges isn’t recommended, as that removes more pastel than it leaves behind.

A few days ago, I bumped into an elderly lady in the shop who said she had a box of sandpaper lying around and would bring it over. I’m curious to see how it turns out. I suspect that coarser sandpaper might also be interesting.

I’ve also coated some cardboard and paper with gesso, as soft pastels work on that too; the same appears to be true for acrylic paint and even watercolour, so I’m going to try that as well. There’s plenty of paper and cardboard, and I can add a bit of colour to it myself.

I do indeed have more than one account; wakeupkitty has the most SP and can therefore give the biggest upvote. The others are from communities where I do have a vote, but the upvotes aren’t as high. It takes a long time to grow an account to a sufficient level. I’m trying to use this account to spread the earnings a bit across the community accounts, but it’s a long road.
Thank you for the delegation. I’m happy with it, and I hope everyone I vote for is too.

Today is my water-mixable oil paint day; on Wednesday I’m painting in a group and we’re going to prepare for the 27th for a creative market – hopefully it won’t rain, as it’s been raining non-stop – and on the other days we’re mainly busy with soft pastel painting.

I wish you a very lovely and, above all, creative day/week