A hand uses a paintbrush to shade a portrait on an oval wooden panel, showing a pale face with dark hair, red lips, and a tear on one cheek.

How to Prepare a Wood Panel for Pastel

Trekell wood panels are not just for paint. With the right surface preparation, they can become a stable, textured support for pastel, drawing and other dry media. Trekell Pro Team Artist Kate Zambrano uses Golden Pastel Ground to prepare an Oval Floater Panel for layered pastel work.

Pastel needs a surface with enough texture, often called tooth, to hold pigment as you build and blend color. A raw wood panel is naturally smooth, but a prepared panel can offer the tooth pastel needs while keeping the stability and visual character of wood underneath.

For this piece, Kate applies Golden Pastel Ground to a Trekell Oval Floater Panel, then uses pastel to build color on a surface that stays firm from beginning to end.

Watch Kate’s pastel panel process below.

Pastel Needs Tooth

Pastel pigment needs texture to grab onto. That texture is commonly referred to as tooth. Without enough tooth, pastel can slide across a surface rather than building into the layered, blended passages artists often want.

A raw wood panel does not naturally have the same surface texture as traditional pastel paper. That does not mean it cannot be used for pastel. It simply needs to be prepared for the medium first.

Kate uses Golden Pastel Ground to create a textured surface that can hold pastel while allowing the character of the wood panel to remain part of the finished piece.

“A wonderful thing about Trekell panels is that you can customize the surface to fit your creative outlets,” Kate says.

Kate Zambrano holds a bare Trekell Oval Floater Panel and points to its label showing the 7.5 × 10-inch size.

 

Start with a Wood Panel

Kate chose a Trekell Oval Floater Panel for this piece. The oval silhouette becomes part of the composition from the beginning, giving the painting a different visual framework than a traditional rectangle.

“Working on a shape like the Oval Floater Panel really does change how I think about the composition of my piece,” Kate says.

She also appreciates the stability of painting and drawing on wood. Unlike paper, the panel does not bend or flex as she layers, blends and develops the pastel image.

“I love using Trekell panels because there is no bending or flexing while I’m layering. Everything stays solid from beginning to end.”

For Kate, wood also offers something traditional pastel paper cannot. Depending on how the surface is prepared and how the composition develops, some of the natural wood grain can remain visible in the finished work.

Bare Trekell Oval Floater Panel with pale wood grain and a recessed groove around its curved edge.

 

Step 1: Apply Golden Pastel Ground

Kate prepares the panel by applying Golden Pastel Ground with a soft synthetic brush.

For this piece, she uses the Pastel Ground straight from the container without thinning it. She applies one even coat across the panel surface, making sure the ground creates a consistent texture for the pastel to grip.

Kate does not sand between coats for this process. The texture created by a single coat gives her the amount of tooth she wants for layering and blending pastel.

Kate’s pastel panel preparation:

  • Application tool: Soft synthetic brush
  • Ground: Golden Pastel Ground used straight from the container
  • Coats: One even coat
  • Sanding: None for this piece
  • Drying time: A few hours before beginning pastel work
A flat brush spreads a thick white coating of pastel ground across an oval wooden panel, leaving curved brush marks.

 

Step 2: Let the Ground Dry

After applying the Pastel Ground, Kate lets the panel dry before beginning the pastel work.

For this piece, the ground dried quickly enough that she was able to start working in pastel within a few hours. Drying time can vary based on the thickness of the application, the surrounding temperature and humidity, so always make sure the surface is fully dry before adding pastel.

Once dry, the smooth wood panel has been transformed into a surface with enough tooth to grab pastel and support layered color.

A hand applies pale pastel near the eye of a lightly sketched face on an oval wooden panel with visible wood grain.

 

Step 3: Layer and Blend Pastel

Once the ground is dry, Kate can work on the panel much as she would on a traditional pastel surface.

“Now my Trekell panel has the perfect amount of tooth for layering and blending pastel,” she says. “I can now build color like I would on a traditional pastel surface with the stability of Trekell wood panel.”

The Pastel Ground gives the pastel something to hold onto, allowing Kate to build color gradually rather than having pigment slide across the panel.

At the same time, the rigid panel remains solid beneath her hand. There is no paper buckling or flexing as she layers pastel, blends passages or develops smaller details.

A hand blends red pigment around a portrait’s lips with a brush, beneath closed eyes shaded in black and gray on an oval wooden panel.

 

Let the Wood Become Part of the Piece

For Kate, preparing a panel for pastel is not only about creating tooth. It is also about preserving the visual qualities that make wood an interesting support.

“I really like working with pastel on a wooden panel because I like to see the wood grain show through, which you don’t get with traditional pastel paper or other surfaces,” she says.

How much wood grain remains visible depends on the ground application, the density of the pastel layers and the choices you make in the composition. You can cover the surface completely, leave selected passages more open or use the warm color and grain of the wood as part of the final image.

[INSERT IMAGE: Close-up showing pastel layers with visible wood grain in the finished artwork]

Protect the Finished Pastel

Once Kate completes a pastel piece, she usually sprays it with fixative to help protect the surface.

Fixative can be useful for securing pastel pigment, but it can also affect the appearance of color and surface texture depending on the product and application. Use a fixative designed for pastel, follow the manufacturer’s instructions and test it on a separate sample before applying it to a finished original.

A fine brush adds detail to a portrait’s closed eyelid, above a pale cheek with a painted tear and beside dark hair and glossy red lips.

 

Why Use a Wood Panel for Pastel?

For Kate, the appeal of working in pastel on wood comes from several things working together.

  • The panel stays rigid while she layers and blends.
  • Golden Pastel Ground gives the surface the tooth pastel needs.
  • The natural wood grain can remain part of the finished artwork.
  • The Oval Floater Panel provides a shaped surface that influences the composition.
  • The panel can be customized for the medium and surface quality she wants.

A wood panel does not need to begin as a traditional painting surface. With the right preparation, it can become a stable support for pastel while still retaining the character of the wood beneath it.

Kate Zambrano holds a finished portrait of a pale face with closed eyes, red lips, and a tear, surrounded by dark hair in a black oval frame.

 

The Takeaway

Before choosing a surface, think about what your medium needs.

For pastel, Kate needs tooth. By applying one even coat of Golden Pastel Ground to her Trekell Oval Floater Panel, she creates a textured surface for layering and blending color without giving up the stability, shape and natural wood character of the panel.

“Whether you paint, draw, or work in pastel, Trekell panels can become the perfect surface,” Kate says. “You just need the right preparation.”

What Kate Uses

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