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MEDIUM: Scratchbord™
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SIZE: 3" x 4-3/4"
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STATUS: Sold
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ACCOLADES: This art, along with Judy's "Locked In Time," are among 67 out of 384 entries juried into the 2021 "No Bigger Than a Breadbox" exhibition in Knoxville Tennessee.
"I was inspired to work on a small scratchboard after seeing the amazing work of a fellow scratchboard artist. This panel is smaller than an index card, as my photo shows.
I always strive for expression in the eyes of my animal and human subjects. I love the variation of colors in the fur of a tiger and aimed to depict it in this piece without using color - just as values of grey between pure white and pure black.
I scratched in the direction of the fur growth, leaving black areas untouched and varying the strokes. More or less of the black surface can be removed depending on the scratching tool used, the pressure applied while moving over the very thin black layer, and the amount of repeated scratching in one area. In the softer areas (as in the lower left) I used a soft fiber brush tool. Where the hairs are more defined (above the eye) I used an x-acto knife and a metal etching tool. For the long whispy hairs I used a Speedball scratching nib which makes a slightly wider mark than my other scratching blades. Within the eye and in the lower right corner, I used the metal etching tool to create stippling, which are small dots… the more dots and the closer the dots, the lighter the value. It's all rather time consuming but rewarding, and working small makes it go faster!"
