Macro Cat in Scratch Art - Work in Progress - 1

Supplies Used:
Ampersand Scratchbord 8"x 8"
Exacto Knife #11 blade
Horsehair drafting brush
Ampersand Black Repair Ink



I just started a new piece: A macro view of a cat on Ampersand Scratchbord. As always, I have started with the eyes. When looking at a cat face on, or any animal for that matter, it is through their eyes and face that their personality and liveliness is reflected. Get the eyes wrong and the whole picture looks wrong.  So I start with the eyes. That way, if I completely ruin the eyes to the point of no return, then I can scrap the board and start over before putting in too many hours on the rest of the cat.

So, my technique with doing the eyes in scratchart is to use tiny little marks with my knife. I barely touch the scratchboard at all. Also, I turn my knife backwards and use the back part of the blade.

I have to change the blade regularly because for scratchart you need to have a very, very sharp blade at all times. If the blade gets just a little bit dull, it will not slide across the scratchbord smoothly and could end up causing damage to the board. Mistakes in scratchart are extremely difficult to fix. I'll probably go through at least six blades for this piece.

Here is a full picture of the cat I'm working on. You can see the eye that I've begun on, and you can also see the outline I have on the scratchboard of the cat. The outline came from white transfer paper. Normally, I would do a close-up, but with scratchbord, it's hard to see the details, at least I couldn't get the details to come out well. I apologize for that. With my next update I will try to get a close-up for all of you to see.

                                            

I am using another photographer's photo from "Photos for Artists" Facebook page - Kairen Jamieson. This piece will take me awhile because I work very slowly and I only have an hour or two most days to work on it. The most time will be spent on the eyes and nose, then the rest will go fairly quickly. I will post updates after I've done a significant amount of work since the previous post, so look for weekly updates.

If you would like to see what my tools look like, look below.  
                                            

Please feel free to post your comments below, and as always ..............



....... HAPPY ARTING!