I’ve done a few black scratchboards in the recent past (Pink Lady, Hair of the Dog and The Queen), but each of them used colors to help define the values. In the purist approach, the black surface is scratched to reveal whites, and the different grey values between black and white are created by scratching, not by painting. This process is similar to how an artist creates pen and ink drawings, making black marks on white paper – but in reverse, making white marks on a black surface with scratchboards. In the chart below, you can see how various grey shades can be created, depending on the amount of white marks on black (at the dark end) or black marks on white (at the light end). This is the basic concept I followed in creating my newest scratchboards.
My subjects are dear to my heart: Ellie Mae, my 11-year old pup, rescued as a homeless 3-month old and now suffering from cancer, and Jasper, a shelter cat we adopted 8 years ago as a kitten. Who says dogs and cats don’t get along?? These two have been buddies for years, and Jasper often joins our dog walks. Ellie and Jasper frequently go nose-to-nose so I recreated this composition from profile photos of them I had in my reference files, shown here. For added drama, I used a 12″ x 12″ Scratchbord® panel, turning it 45 degrees to hang on the diagonal for added interest. (My in-process photos are shown squared-up for simplicity).
Technically speaking, in “Heart to Heart” the marks I scratched are made in the direction the fur grows. Where I wanted darker fur, I made thinner and fewer marks. I scratched primarily with a #11 x-acto blade but also used the pointed scratch-nib tool from Ampersand Art which made a slightly thicker white line… and more closely matched Ellie Mae’s coarser fur and the thick whiskers on both. I wanted Jasper’s soft fine fur to contrast with Ellie’s coat. To create areas of lighter fur, I did more scratching, with marks done closer together and sometimes overlapped. This revealed more of the white clay surface which lies under the black face of the scratchboard. On Jasper, I also used a “fiber brush” which reveals a lot of white while creating a soft edge.
To attract maximum attention to their gaze I decided to add color just to their eyes. Eyes are full of interesting hues, texture, and reflection and always fun to do in color! For the first time I used Ampersand Art’s “Claybord® Inks” which are specially formulated to add color only to the white areas without showing any residue on the black areas. They come in a set of 6 basic colors (red, yellow, blue, green, sepia, and black), so I mixed and thinned with water to get my desired effects. The inks dry waterproof and permanent. The only thing about them I will need to adjust to is how fast they dry on the palette. Fortunately I was just putting one drop out at a time out, since I needed so little, so I didn’t waste any.
My other two scratchboards in this Trilogy are shown below. I keep pushing myself to get more comfortable doing art of human faces (I’m ok with animals!) and so I decided to try scratchboard for my newest challenges. Of course, the fur textures I scratched in “Heart to Heart” won’t do for flesh! To create the grey tones in “Selfie” and “Olivia” (my sweet great-niece) I primarily used cross-hatching. This is a process of filling an area with parallel lines, then going over them with more parallel lines at an angle to the first set. For lighter areas on scratchboards, these crossed lines can be etched over again at a another angle, revealing more of the white clay below the black surface. Gradually, the grey values are created and a three-dimensional effect emerges. For the hair in both examples, the thicker line of the scratching nib created perfect textures. You can also use the Ampersand Art wire brush for hair and fur, which scratches multiple lines at once.
“Selfie,” is actually the first ‘purist’ scratchboard I completed in this series, done on a small 6″ x 6″ Scratchbord®. I wanted to symbolize ideas for future paintings floating around in my head. I wasn’t quite sure how to “scratch” to get the effect I was envisioning. What is it that makes me take these risks and experiment as my art nears completion!?!? I held my breathe and took a small strip of medium grit sandpaper, wrapped it around my fingertip, and wiped across the black surface in a whirl. Voila, it worked! I repeated this a couple of times over the same area, then finished the fantasy swirl by scratching little star shapes with the x-acto knife.
I had the finished version of “Olivia” in my brain before she even arrived for a family visit last March. Olivia just turned 11 years old, is an avid reader, a serious intellect, and has beautiful clear eyes and an “old soul”… the latter I hoped to capture in her portrait.
She modeled for many different reference photos, willingly sitting as I requested, tilting her head just right to capture the soft side-lighting, and directing her gaze as I asked. On the 10″ x 8″ scratchboard, I decided to eliminate any background, leaving the big untouched black area to balance with her detailed headshot. She has the shiniest hair I’ve ever seen, like it is spun from gold, so that was important in the pose also. Scratchbord® is more forgiving than one might think; when I struggled to get Olivia’s lips right I was able to re-touch areas already scratched, using a permanent black pen with a very fine point. I used a Pentel Arts Hybrid Techica 0.4mm black ink pen, making tiny marks similar to my scratches. In some places I scratched again through these marks, in other places they remained untouched. The fabric textures of her hoodie were great fun to recreate also.
I was motivated to try this style of scratchboards for a personal goal. I want to be accepted into The International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA) this year. (Visit their website to see phenomenal scratchboard art!) Their standards require a ‘threshold of 50% of values created by scratching,’ so I want to be sure that the five samples of my scratchboard art which are required with my membership application exceed their criteria. Three down, two to go!
“Heart to Heart” is my tribute to Ellie Mae, whose days with us are numbered. From the day she joined us, she has been the sweetest dog we’ve ever known (I won’t count all the items she chewed as a pup!). Over the years she has captured the hearts of many, as our traveling companion on visits to friends, family reunions, weddings and funerals, and several of my distant art exhibit openings. At the assisted living home where my mother-in-law lived, Ellie naturally acted as a therapy dog for many residents on our visits. She was nurtured by our dogs Darla and Shorty-Girl as the first “third dog” at the Two Dog Ranch, and went on to be the surrogate mother for her current siblings Maggie Mae and Watson. She has also helped us nurse and care for several other dogs we’ve rescued during her life, including Bonnie and Hunter, who each moved on to be fabulous members of other special families.  |
| Ellie and our cat “Smokie” in 2010 |
Ellie has been friends with many dogs who have visited us, like her first friend Bob, Elkie, Summer, Jeb, Foster, and – especially – her special boyfriend Lonesome, who she miraculously cured of his fear of new people. She’s camped, hiked, swam, picnicked, walked the beach, ridden in boats, explored the forest, appeared on websites, and partied with us. When the tornado hit our property in 2011, she was at our side in the basement. Since finishing “Heart to Heart,” those moments when Ellie Mae and Jasper are rubbing their necks and walking side-by-side are extra special. We are spoiling her more than ever now, and will forever love her.
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Judy your work is superb thank you for telling us all the work that goes into this work I didn't know.