Pastel is a smudgy mess in a sketchbook, so I made a sketchbook to alleviate some of that. I work on a sanded surface with pastel, so to mimic that somewhat, I applied clear gesso, rolled on smoothly with a brayer, on hot press watercolor paper. I did this on the right side of each page and let it dry before doing each following right hand side page with the brayered, clear gesso (see photo above).

Then on each left hand side page, I used the double-sided tape dispenser we use for framing, and stuck on glassine cut to the right size, which will help minimize the smudging of applied pastel.

Preparing a whole book like this makes it easy to have a grab and go sketchbook for pastel where you can capture some plein air ideas wherever you go. The surface isn’t perfect for finished work, which takes away any pressure to make it into a salable piece, and it becomes just a place for experimentation and recording of fleeting impressions.