In the last few months, scratchboard has become the main focus of my artwork. For those of you who have been following my work, this is a trend you may have noticed. If you're just coming across my work and this site, please take a look around and see what I've been up to here.
I thought I might take a few minutes to write about the medium itself and why I've switched my focus from primarily pencil and charcoal to scratchboard.
Scratchboard is not a new medium, but it is definitely underrepresented at art shows, fairs, and exhibits. So what is scratchboard?? Scratchboard is layered black ink over white clay on a masonite board. The artist then uses a number of different tools to scratch away the ink to show the white clay beneath. Some of these tools include xacto knives, tattoo needles, scalple blades, fiber glass brushes, steel wool, and abrasive erasers (to name a few). Scratch artists will use any tool they can find to produce new textures, so the tool kit is endless in a sense. Color can be added to these black and white boards by applying diluted inks, watercolor, and colored pencil. Scratch artists also may begin with a white clay board where they apply layers of paint, chalks, pastels, etc to create a colored background before they begin scratching.
Why did I decide to switch my focus from drawing in pencil and charcoal to scratchboard?? I have always liked scratchboard and was introduced to it almost 9 years ago, but I never fully embraced it as my medium of choice, for no specific reason at all really. At my RAW Artists showcase this past February, however, I included a scratchboard piece and WOW were people mesmerized by it! They were intrigued by its mystery - not many people have seen scratchboard and it is still very foreign to many, even other artists. That one piece attracted so much attention that it really got me thinking about what pieces I should be focusing on moving forward as I enter more shows and start selling more of my work.
Lucky for me, I fell in love with scratchboard again right away and it has been a really fun new adventure of learning. Different problems come up with each piece and there are endless possibilities with this medium, I haven't even scratched the surface (no pun intended :))!! I have so many more projects lined up and can't wait to share them with all of you! More animals yes, as they are my favorite subject, but I also plan to branch out into architectural pieces and portraits.
As always, thank you so much for your continued support of my work and for stopping by to read my post!
God Bless!