Scratch board portrait

[JM]

I did this of my Uncle Zip for my Mother. Zip died earlier this year & it has been pretty hard on my mom.

Anyway, I said I would post a scratch board sometime, & since I did this one last night, I thought I'd share it.




JM

[Drewbacca]

wow that's the best thing I've seen you do. You can tell there was some emotion behind it.

Good god this forum's dead. You and me seem to be the only people here.

[Nomi]

I'm here!

But damn, that's amazing. The background is positively hypnotic, and the hatching is great. I had no idea one could make such a damn cool image with that kind of hatching. If I were in your family, hell, I'd really appreciate something like that being done.

Now I have to go try something like this again. Blah! to my lack of scratch board skill.

[Regus]

That is really cool. I am unfamiliar with this technique, can you go into detail about it?

[Klonoa]

positively. in. sane.

[bandit]

nice..im speechless.

[JM]

Thanks guys.

Regus- A scratch board is a piece of masonite (or something similar) that has a layer of white clay on it that is then covered with several layers of india ink. You scratch away the ink to reveal the white clay underneath. It gives you a woodcut look, without all the pressing & messy ink. You can get them in any craft or art supply store. I would also HIGHLY reccommend getting a specialized scratch board nib, it is basically a nib that goes into the kind of pen that you would dip into an ink well. These nibs will work so much better than anything that you would improvise for this use (xacto knife, needle, paper clip, etc.)

I really dismissed the medium for a long time because I was forced to do them in highschool art, & I didn't like anything associated with that teacher for a long time. As my drawing technique changed I picked up a board & realized that I could do some interesting things with my method of laying down strokes. I try to avoid actually hatching the lines & use the weight & direction of the lines to express the image.

The only negative thing I can think of about the medium is the hand cramps. I did this in one Hour & a half sitting & I had a broken claw for a right hand when I went to bed last night.

JM

[Mode7]

Scratch board is all sorts of fun to use, apart from the aforementioned crab-claw. Seems to really suit your style as well; hopefully that's not the last scratchboard piece we'll be seeing from you.

[Dolemite]

Goddamn, that's beautiful. Nice work.

[Jester]

Nice, really nice. Has a kinda popart feel to it, with the sunglasses and your uncle's mustache and the sort of etched print look it has. Was your uncle a child of the sixties? If so this is definately a fitting tribute.
The tip about the scratch board nib is interesting. I usually us a 7mm lead holder and a replacement point for a compass, but that's because quills make my hand cramp something awful.