Artist Ranjini Venkatachari - Ampersand Pastelbord

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Epiphany, Neocolor II on Pastelbord™
Line Drawing, Neocolor II, colored pencil on Pastelbord™

"I like working on surfaces that have a little bit of texture compared to smooth ones like a hot press paper. I do not make my work look completely smooth; I really like the texture of the board showing through to some extent in the end." -- Ranjini Venkatachari

With Pastelbord, Ranjini Venkatachari uses the grit in the surface to blend her Neocolors and colored pencil, working with a stiff bristle brush. She has also mastered a technique to correct mistakes by working through the layers of pigment down to the grit of the surface, which remains intact. "If there is a mistake in the Neocolor layer, the board can be cleaned off with just plain water. If I have something to erase after I have started the colored pencil on top of the Neocolors, I use the battery-operated eraser. Even if you have to get through a painted Neocolor layer, the battery-operated eraser easily gets right through and the grit still remains to add color on top."

Pastelbord has even inspired Ranjini to test oil pastels and to combine her colored pencil with soft pastel. She originally began working in graphite, as she has always had a tendency for drawing. Pencils are portable, easy to clean up and little health risk. So, it was natural for her to gravitate to colored pencil once she moved to the United States from India in 2003.

When she first began using colored pencils, Ranjini was working on paper. Later, when she switched to Pastelbord and Neocolor II, her work improved dramatically because she was using much higher quality materials. She was able to work more quickly, layer the colored pencil as she was accustomed, and work in both wet and dry media together. Plus, no framing needed! Ranjini finishes her work with 4-8 coats of Lascaux fixative and then sprays with a Damar/UV varnish.