Scratchboard Etchings

These things don't translate well to digital forms, but they're cool and shiny and catch the light like a 3D object would.

A scratchboard etching of a dachshund pup. A scratchboard etching of a very serious owl.

The Process

A scratchboard etching of an African Grey Parrot. The physical scratchboard is a metallic clay board covered in a coat of India ink. First, the design is outlined on the board with a fine layer of chalk. Portions of the ink coating are then selectively etched away with a blade to reveal the surface below. The subtractive process feels foreign throughout, but outputs a relatively photorealistic result.

Here's a work in progress. It's tricky to notice when viewed on a screen, but both the beak and eye are outlined in chalk dust, rather than having been scratched away. Once the thing is finished, all remaining chalk powder is wiped away with the (now) powdered ink.

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Other Stuff

Colored pencil drawing of my beagle, Laika. Here's some text and words and things. I can't be bothered to find the lorem ipsum paragraphs from earlier; somehow, this seems more convenient.

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