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Scratchboard

Scratchboard or scraperboard, is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white or colored layer beneath. Scratchboard refers to both a fine-art medium, and an illustrative technique using sharp knives and tools for engraving into a thin layer of white China clay that is coated with dark, often black India ink. There is also foil paper covered with black ink that, when scratched, exposes the shiny surface beneath. Scratchboard can be used to yield highly detailed, precise and evenly textured artwork. Works can be left black and white, or colored.

Modern scraperboard originated in the 19th century in Britain and France. As printing methods developed, scraperboard became a popular medium for reproduction because it replaced wood, metal and linoleum engraving. It allowed for a fine line appearance that could be photographically reduced for reproduction without losing quality. It was most effective and expeditious for use in single-color book and newspaper printing. From the 1930s to 1950s, it was one of the preferred techniques for medical, scientific and product illustration. During that time period, Virgil Finlay made very detailed illustrations, often combining scraperboard methods with traditional pen & ink techniques, and producing highly detailed artworks. In more recent years, it has made a comeback as an appealing medium for editorial illustrators of magazines, ads, graphic novels, and one of a kind pieces of fine art displayed in galleries and museums internationally.

Unlike many drawing mediums, where the artist adds in the mid-tones and shadows, with scratchboard the artist is working by adding in the highlights. The artist can use a variety of tools to scratch away the black ink from the board and reveal more or less of the white clay that is underneath (see materials list below for tools). After black ink has been removed as desired the work may be considered complete, or subsequently be colored with watercolors, airbrush, ink, color pencil or acrylics. Transparent mediums are generally used to color scratchboard, as they fill in the white scratches without affecting the black ink left on the board. After an area has been colored it can be scratched again, revealing more of the white clay. Sometimes the artist will color and scratch several times to create subtle shading or color variations. This technique can yield a graphic image that can be very detailed. Artists that begin with a white clay-coated board will add their own ink to the surface, and then scratch away the ink in the same manner as described above. After completion, the artwork may be varnished to protect it against damage.

Scratchboard itself comes either with a paper (cardboard) backing, or a hardboard support. While the cardboard does have its uses, as it can be easily cut into size, the hardboard is much superior, giving greater stability to the work, being able to be corrected more often. It is more durable and easier to scratch into for cleaner, crisper details and lines. Several tools have been created specifically for scratchboard; however any sharp implement will do though a range of blades of different thicknesses allows the removal of more or less of the ink at will (see variety of tools listed below). Isopropyl Alcohol on a cotton swab or cotton ball, sandpaper and non-oily, fine, steel wool are also useful for removing large areas, and creating texture. Coloring scratchboard, black or white boards, can be done with many mediums applied with paint brush, air brush, and even cotton balls. Special scratchboard colored inks, made by ampersand, can be added to the white areas and then scratched again for additional highlights and volume for added dimension.

The scratchboard (scratchboard or scratchboard) is a support for drawing work that can be likened to engraving. The term “scratch card” refers to both the medium, the technique, and the work done by this technique.

The scratch card consists of a cardboard base or, for some, a stiffer fiber board (isorel). A paste made of kaolin or chalk, glycerin, gelatin and water is deposited in successive layers. Then the card is laminated under high pressure to present a very smooth surface. For the black card, a layer of black Chinese ink is added.

This smoothed surface can be used as it is, or be covered (when white) evenly or partially in turn with a black ink or other color. Scraping this surface with a suitable instrument reveals the underlying white and therefore drawing in white on black, using techniques that are visually similar to saving size engraving.

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The techniques themselves are different from those of the etching, because the thickness of the scratch layer being very small, one does not have to deeply cut the material as in the woodcut. We may prefer to start from the white scratch card, and make the black top layer ourselves by the most appropriate means, or blacken only the parts of the drawing that need to be worked, or even make a drawing in a traditional way and use the faculty of scratching only to refine certain details.

Starting from a simple principle, the scratch card allows a large number of different techniques and there is no absolute rule. One can, according to the desired result, prepare the card, either to smooth it to the maximum, or on the contrary to give it a rougher “material” by passing there sandpaper.

The preliminary drawing must be as fine and precise as possible, as well on a black card as it is difficult to erase afterwards. This drawback is overcome by performing the sketching with a blue light-insertive pencil, which does not appear in the photographic reproduction or the scanner, and that it is therefore not necessary to erase. On a black card, the graphite pencil drawing may be sufficient because its brilliance makes it visible, but each artist uses his own method.

For scraping, the range of tools is very wide and again each artist finds his own instruments. We generally use:

cutting tools such as cutters, scalpels, scalpels,
vaccinostyle type feathers,
woodcutting tools, such as the chisel or stall (the striped stall or “bike” is used to draw several parallel lines),
and improvised tools as needed: sharpened needles, various blades, bundled wire brushes, etc.
For the work on the carte blanche, all the tools are possible: brush, pen, pen, technical pen, drawing line, but also lead pencils, colored pencils, color inks, etc. To draw parallel hatching, we can use a hatching device (instrument constituted by a rule that moves a given value by pressing a button).

While some artists choose to make their own scratchboards, most artists work on commercially available materials. Brands of available commercial scratchboard are Ampersand(professional artist grade materials supported on masonite for rigidity – Products sold under the product names Scratchbord with black ink and Claybord white clay without any ink on it), Essdee (make in UK, lighter weight material backed on cardboard), Scratch-Art (light weight, student grade material on cardboard, can be purchased with colored foil behind).

Some of the tools professional scratchboard artists use for scratching through the ink include xacto blades, scalpel blades, tattoo needles, tips made by speedball (scratchboard tips #112 and 113), tips made by scratch-art brand, small fiberglass brushes, wire brushes, sandpaper, steel wool, parallel-line tool, ink erasers, and more! Various techniques such as hatching or stippling can be used to detail the image. The 14″ X 18″ scratchboard Sunflower And Silver by Diana Lee is an example of black scratchboard colored with transparent ink. An extreme close up lets the detail of the scratching be more easily seen.

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