scratchboard

  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 … Read More

“Sleeping Ginger,” painted in black ink on scratchboard The point of view you choose for a painting can make a big difference. For example, I always try to depict portraits of dogs with my eye level pretty much at the dog’s eye level. “Sleeping Ginger” really illustrates this – if I was standing above Ginger, looking down at her on the floor, the intimacy would have been lost. In painting an outdoor scene, the point of view is critical, certainly … Read More