Monday, June 8, 2009

Scratchboard


Scratchboard is a lovely way to draw and it looks a lot like an etching or wood engraving but is much easier. It only requires the scratchboard and a few scratching knifes and tools. It is available on a panel or thick, rigid bristol board like paper. It's made by coating paper or board with a thin layer of clay and a layer of India ink on the surface. After scratching out the image, it can be colored or painted. Cool stuff!

Images from an enchanting children's book called The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson. Pictures by Beth Krommes. (Houghton Mifflin Co. 2008)
PS. I've been experiencing a family crisis which is why I haven't been posting on this blog much in the past few months... it's a bit time consuming to post because I do research things. Please bear with me. I love sharing art history with you all and have greatly enjoyed and appreciate your comments and visits. (I've no intention of shutting down Artslice.) Hopefully things will improve and I can get back on track.

6 comments:

TERI REES WANG said...

A friend gave me a kit to make something similar to a soft version of a linoleum for carving to create a block print. If only I could figure out the route to make seem a great as these; ..ugh.

artslice said...

Hi Teri,
You can do it... go for it! Thanks for stopping by.

Paula Villanova said...

I did a scratchboard drawing of a fennec fox while in high school (ahem...decades ago...)that is still hanging in my parent's home. I was so proud of that piece! Now I'm thinking that it's a medium I should try again!

artslice said...

Hey Paula... that sounds very cool! I've not done much of this but would love to experiment - have always loved black and white.

Dave King said...

Memories, you bring back memories! I did a lot of scraperboard (as I knew it) once. These are very fine examples, though.

artslice said...

Hi Dave... you should show us your work on your blog sometime, would love to see it!