An Old Friend Revisited

Just Jasper watercolor on scratchboard by Judy Lavoie

When I opened a new package of three little Aquabord™ panels, I thought I was trying a new painting surface… a thin layer of fine white kaolin clay on a hardboard with a pebbly texture, heralded as ideal for use with watercolors. The surface absorbs watercolor pigment similarly to cold-pressed (textured) watercolor paper, but the paint can be easily removed. It’s sometimes known as scratchboard, and when I was a kid we created our own by covering heavy paper with strokes of colored crayons, topping with a solid layer of black crayon, then creating colorful art by scratching through the black layer. With the more sophisticated Aquabord, the surface be scratched with a sharp instrument like an xacto blade or rubbed off with an abrasive like fine sand paper. In addition, simple re-wetting will lift the paint off to a nearly white surface. You can even wipe out a whole watercolor painting by rinsing the board off! When finished, an Aquabord panel can be sealed and then framed without matting or glass – which was really appealing to me, since I do all my own framing.

Sleeping Ginger © Judy Lavoie 1997

I generally create my watercolor paintings on heavyweight (300lb.) watercolor paper, often using a knife blade and other abrasives to reveal some white paper below, so Aquabord seemed a natural for me. But before I started a new painting on Aquabord, I was looking for tips on the website of the manufacturer, Ampersand. To my surprise I discovered that “Aquabord” was formerly called “Claybord™ Textured” – an art surface I had used over 20 years ago! My first use of Clayboard was “Sleeping Ginger,” a portrait of my beloved English Springer Spaniel painted in 1997 with black ink. I loved how I was able to scratch down to white for details like the whiskers and wet nose, rub away with steel wool for a soft edge as on Ginger’s white fur and reflection, and etch off some ink then glaze to create the textures of fur.

Her Highness © Judy Lavoie 1998

The following year, I used watercolors on Claybord Smooth to create “Her Highness.” The unique properties of Claybord allowed me to wipe away pigment to create light blades of grass overlapping the lioness, and scratch out fine fur, whiskers, and white highlights on her eyes. I did a few more scratchboard paintings, including some using acrylic paints, before I moved on. I’m not really sure why I abandoned it!?!?

I looked through my reference photos to determine what might be some fun new paintings to try on the 7″x5″ Aquabord panels. Since I’ve been painting all my recent watercolors with limited color palettes, I challenged myself to create two new paintings of very different subjects using just 3 primary colors. In this case, I used American Journey Sour Lemon (Hansa), Rambling Rose, and Joe’s Blue (Phthalo), the house-brand from Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff. I used a small round mixing palette set up like a color wheel, with the center for mixing all three colors. I had previously done a mixing study with these pigments, so I knew I could get clean, non-muddy mixes and a good range of hues. I also pulled out my box of scratching and etching tools, which had been gathering dust among my art supplies.

I decided to paint a little landscape of the upper Tellico River as it tumbles over rocks in the Cherokee National Forest, here in SE Tennessee. I liked the way the bright sunlight highlighted tree branches and how the moving water sparkled – ideal for revealing the white clay below my paints. The collage below shows the Aquabord panel with the painted image on the left, and the panel after I revealed some of the white clay in the center. In some places, like in the grass in the foreground, I did a transparent glaze of paint over the scratched-out blades of grass to make them light green. “Up The Tellico” is a much smaller painting than I usually do, and it was fun and quick to create. I was ready for more.

For Aquabord painting #2, I reverted back to an animal portrait (one of my favorite subjects), using a casual photo of my cat Jasper while he lounged in the rocks near a bed of irises. Cats are a fun subject to paint; their faces are cute and interesting, they strike great poses, their eyes are hypnotic, and their fur provides lots of textural interest. “Just Jasper” was painted with the same 3 primary watercolors as “Up The Tellico,” with lots more hues and values mixed on the palette. Once painted, the surface took lots of scratching. I used a few different pointed tools and small strips of 150 grit sandpaper to create the fine fur. To soften the edges of Jasper’s coat and make the fur look fuzzy I used a small fiberglass brush, a tool sold by Ampersand. A key to making captivating eyes is to add the white highlights, and that’s a breeze with this clay panel. I’m still trying out different abrasive tools, and I’ve ordered a few more for future use.

framed Just Jasper painting by Judy Lavoie

Once completed, a watercolor painting on Aquabord can be sprayed with a clear acrylic. Krylon UV archival spray was recommended and worked well on these. With the paints sealed they are waterproof and the surface of the panel can be safely cleaned with a damp rag. No matting, no glass – yeah!

I’m anxious to continue my Aquabord experiments, so you’ll be seeing more soon. I have a small Claybord Black panel begging to be used!