Art is a constant learning process for me. I painted “Scarlett – Red-Tailed Hawk” in a similar manner as I painted “Hair of the Dog,” using transparent fluid acrylic paints on a small 6″x6″ black scratchboard panel, but this time depicting feathers vs. fur. The photos of my work in process highlight some of the steps in capturing this majestic bird. The technical info in the second half of this post may be of particular interest to other artists who use Scratchbord® and want to benefit from my mistakes!
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| Photo of Scarlett – great feet! |
Scarlett is a magnificent bird and I was grateful for the opportunity to photograph her closely. Her misfortune was my good luck; Scarlett was injured while in the wild and ended up in a captive raptor program with Tennessee State Parks. Scarlett now has a fine home at Harrison Bay State Park and joins rangers for demonstrations and other educational programs. Scarlett was starring in a birds of prey demo at an outdoor fall fair where I met her and her handler and took fabulous reference photos.
This is my second painting on Ampersand Scratchbord® and I encountered some new challenges this time. Fortunately, I was able to overcome the surprises and finish the painting as I had envisioned it. Some of my techniques may be unconventional; I haven’t been part of the scratchboard community long enough to know if there are “purists” as with watercolors. The suggestions I’ve listed below might be second-nature to an experienced scratchboard artist, but I thought they might be helpful for newbies like me. (NOTE: Click on any images in this blog to enlarge them.)
SCRATCHBORD® TIPS & TECHNIQUES: 
1) Don’t scratch to uncover big areas (like over 1/8″) which you want to stay pure white until you are finished scratching black away elsewhere. The scratches in such areas can collect fine black dust and this can be tough to remove. In my anxious attempt to depict the highlight on the yellow part of Scarlett’s beak at the start of my painting, I faced this problem. After the scratches filled with black, I tried to scratch deeper to get back to pure white and was unsuccessful. I was afraid to scratch any deeper. I tried wiping away the black residue with isopropyl alcohol, but that didn’t work. Ultimately, I painted the small area over with gesso as one of my final steps to resolve this problem to recreate a pure white area.
2) It is possible to remove the black finish from an area on Scratchbord® without scratching or other abrasive methods… you can dissolve and wipe it off using isopropyl rubbing alcohol, as I did on Scarlett’s eyes and places I intended to paint bright yellow. Start by setting your panel on a flat surface, so the alcohol won’t drip out of your targeted white area as it could if on a slant. The black india ink surface needs a little massaging with the alcohol to soften it. Since alcohol evaporates quickly, it is best to keep blotting off the blackened liquid as you work, with tissues or Q-tips, working small areas at a time. Dissolve, blot, dissolve, blot.
I’ve used various ways to remove the black surface, working from a little cup of rubbing alcohol and rinsing off my tools frequently to wash away the black residue:
(A) The alcohol can be painted on carefully with a stiff brush. I use old brushes or a small “Fritch Scrubber“, used by watercolor artists (available in different sizes). Small circular motions, using a soft touch to avoid disturbing the white clay surface, dissolve the alcohol fast.
(B) For a large area, individually foil-packaged pads of isopropyl alcohol are handy. Some are more saturated and thicker than others; I like the “Dukal” brand since it is a small thin pad and just slightly damp. As an alternative, fold a little square of tissue and dab it in alcohol to wipe with.
(C) You can mask off the area you want to be white. On a new scratchboard painting currently in the works, I used blue painter’s masking tape on each side of a flower stem, pressed the edges down well, and uncovered the white layer quickly.
3) After doing a lot of scratching and abrasion of the black surface, fine particles of black can remain on your Scratchbord panel. After Step 6 as shown in my work-in-process photos above, I planned to start painting with transparent acrylics, so I wanted to be sure the surface had no fine black residue first. (BEWARE: don’t do this if you have painted any areas with watercolors, since it re-wetting will disturb them.) I began wiping my Scratchbord surface with a dampened soft cloth (a sponge works too) and was surprised at all the black dust it picked up. I repeated the process several times, rinsing the cloth between. Black kept showing as I wiped, even though my work was a small 6″ square panel. I finally decided to hold the board under the faucet and gently flow water across the face. One final wipe showed no more residue, and I placed the panel horizontally on a baking rack so all sides could dry thoroughly.
4) Small areas you wish were still black can be retouched, either with permanent black pens (I use Pigma Micron pens) or permanent black india ink brushed on.
5) When you are ready to sign your work, don’t sign it where you’ve done lots of scratching… whether you scratch or use paint or a pen, your signature can become distorted on the irregular surface.
6) If you are sealing your work with a clear spray, be very sure to clean the surface of any residue, lint, or dust, particularly if big areas of solid black remain. I used a cloth made for cleaning eye glasses and hold the panel at different angles in front of a light source for final inspection. Also be sure that you do your spraying in a dust-free zone!
7) When using a protective spray coating, hold the can at a very slight angle, not directly over your work. This way, if a drip comes out along with the fine spray (which happened to me several times) there’s less chance that the drip will fall on your artwork.
8) If you didn’t do number 7 above and you get a big drip on the otherwise lovely surface, don’t fret! I got a big fat drip in the bottom left corner of Scarlett, and thought I had ruined my work. I had used Krylon “Gallery Series” UV Archival Varnish aerosol spray in a satin finish. I knew that as an archival finish, the coating should be removable without harming the art. Info online said it could be removed with mineral spirits. WARNING: I also saw a comment by someone who removed it successfully with rubbing alcohol; the india ink surface on Scratchbord® will dissolve with rubbing alcohol (see #2 above), so that would be disastrous! I let my panel dry for 24 hours after I had sprayed on the Krylon finish, then used mineral spirits on a clean cotton rag and started to rub gently on the blob on my artwork. It slowly began to dissolve and I felt confident this was going to fix my problem spot. I had intended to just eliminate the lump and ignore the rest of the surface, but I goofed and got some little drops of mineral spirits on my black background. They might have dried and disappeared, but I ended up carefully rubbing off the clear coating from my entire panel. Now I can confirm to everyone that this Krylon UV spray is removable! Once my panel was thoroughly dry and clean, I very carefully resealed the surface with two fine coats. As described in #7 above, another big drip came out while I was doing the final coat, but it landed on the big piece of cardboard I had my panel resting on, so I was safe!
I hope these hints help my fellow Scratchbord artists.
