Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Tutorial: What is scratchboard?

This week BrisStyle member and talented artist and illustrator Renee Treml takes us through the fascinating process of Scratchboard.


"The term scratchboard refers to the surface on which I work. A scratchboard (aka scraperboard or scratchpaper) is a surface which has been coated with a layer of white clay. This backing can be a hard board (masonite) or a thin paper. I use a scratchboard made by Ampersand — it is prepared on a masonite board, so it does not bend or crack and the layer of clay is thicker than on paper. Scratchboard can be purchased with just the smooth white clay surface or prepared with a layer of black ink."



To read more about the basic process of scratchboard and for an article on how to create beautiful illustrations on white clayboard check out Renee's website here.

3 comments:

whizzbangle said...

i love scratchboard (it used to be scraperboard or is that american?). ruth is great at it! i oove the black based ones best!

wimcee said...

This is a really beautiful technique! I've had lots of fun over the years with monotone drawing and lifting with various medial, but I'd never seen this demonstrated before - thank-you! Stephx

BettsyKingston said...

Looks fantastic and I'm sure you make it deceptively simple!