As a pastelist with less than one year of experience, I can say with no reservations whatsoever that Uart is one of the best pastel papers for beginners. Period. At the beginning of my painting journey, I started out using unsanded papers. Instead of layering color in complex or beautiful ways, I “made mud” on those unsanded papers.Uart has a sanded surface similar to sandpaper. It holds many layers of color, even more than you could hope for if you use a spray fixative on the first few layers. I am a very heavy-handed painter, something I’m trying to correct, but even I can get 8 or 9 layers of color on Uart. In my book, that’s a wonderful pastel support!Uart can handle any kind of underpainting you wish to use. Watercolor, oil stains, alcohol washes etc. can all be used on it without harming the paper. The biggest downside to using Uart is that it does indeed curl. I frame most of my work so it isn’t a big deal to me. Some people think the surface is hard on the fingertips while painting on it. I’d be wary of aggressive finger blending on it, but I’ve had no trouble otherwise.Uart comes in several different grits. I really enjoy 400 which is mid-range. It is a pleasure to work on, and the nice results mean I want to paint more often. Highly recommended!