Not sure what the heck scratchboard art is? Have no fear! Most people have not heard of it, but let me share a bit of why I love this medium.
The Art Surface
The art you see on my website, social media, and in person at markets all begins as a purely black board. You have that right, fully black. Scratchboard boards are a white clay board, but you don't see the white, at least not yet. Topped with a black ink, the artwork that is seen is created by scratching the board with an xacto knife, revealing a small white line with every mark. Over an over again, thousands upon thousands of times, the board is scratched, creating the image little by little.
Yes, an xacto knife is my tool nearly 100% of the time. I actually have to change the blade end often because even these little scratches wear it down eventually, and the sharper the blade point, the easier it is to scratch with. Keep in mind, these scratches are tiny, so it takes time to make even a bit of progress on an artwork.
Reverse Drawing with a Knife
Now, the secret to scratchboard art is...you work from a photograph. That's right! You have a reference photo the whole time for not only shape, but lighting of your subject matter. In my opinion, lighting is the most important thing to capture in a scratchboard artwork. The tricky thing with this is that because you are scratching white lines on a black surface, you are working on the highlights to mid range tones of the work. Don't try to focus on the dark shadows, let the board do that work for you.
Fun fact: After years of focusing on light and highlights with scratchboard, I struggle greatly to draw normally with shadow if asked to.
I love the detail, the patience, the steady hand needed for scratchboard. I love the depth of texture that you can achieve with different directions and pressures of scratches. Mostly I love that I get to share these unique creations with the world.
Thanks for reading! - Elizabeth