28 June, 2008 | Scratchboard Class and Demo

Last week I took a class on Scratchboard Illustration at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Scratchboard involves removing a top layer of black ink and revealing the white space below. The resulting woodblock print/lino-cut look is quite stunning.

The instructor was Rik Olson, a professional illustrator and we were provided with a package of materials that included some samples of blank scratchboard and some carving tools.

It was fascinating to watch his demo of the scratchboard technique. He started out by drawing a rough sketch on a piece of vellum and transferring the basic lines with a red carbon paper. Next, he used a yellow colored pencil and fleshed out a bit more of the details.

He then picked up his carving “pens” and started removing the black ink to expose the white surface. Rik explained how he had to think about where the light would hit on an apple and how to illustrate it. He started with the leaf and stem and the top of the apple.

It was almost magical to watch the apple appear from a blank black canvas.

Rik told us that some scratchboard artists remove the entire background behind the central image before working the details. He chooses to work it in sections so he has more flexibility and can adjust the dimensions and add other items. He took the suggestion of one of the other students to add a worm poking out of the apple’s side.

It seemed that in no time at all he had finished the main image.

He finished it by adding the cast shadows and some crosshatching. Or I should more accurately say that he removed the ink and left the shadows.

It was a little intimidating, but I managed to eek out a flower doodle on my scratchboard.

I like the effect and may try my hand at doing more of these. We were told that scratchboard illustration was sometimes called a “poor man’s wood engraving.”

In class we used Ampersand Clayboard Black (5″x7″) readily available at most art supply places. Dick Blick’s prices are quite reasonable at $5.94 for a 3 pack of that same size.

Related links:
San Francisco Center for the Book is a non-profit center that promotes book and paper arts.

Rik Olson, instructor and professional artist: If you look through his portfolio no doubt you’ll recognize at least one or two pieces of his commercial work.

Dick Blick supplies Ampersand Clayboard materials

Rik also brought a couple of inspirational books for us to look at:

Scratchboard for illustration / by Ruth Lozner

and

How to cut drawings on scratchboard. / by Merritt Dana Cutler

6 comments to “Scratchboard Class and Demo”

sazzy, June 28th, 2008 at 8:14 pm:

• this seems much like the process for an etching tho’ not as labor intensive. he really is a great illustrator.

irishgirlieknits, June 28th, 2008 at 8:14 pm:

• Very cool. Your flower came out great too! We learned how to do it in an art class and its harder than it looks.

sazzy, June 28th, 2008 at 8:16 pm:

• ya know what? I didn’t wait for all your pics to load before I made my previous comment. your flower picture is really good! has a vintage flavor to it.

Terry, June 28th, 2008 at 11:14 pm:

• Your flower is so cool! They have such great classes there.

Chef@isimmer, June 30th, 2008 at 3:45 pm:

• This is great. You did a beautiful job. Nice taste of the class.

Annie, October 16th, 2008 at 9:49 am:

• Oh, I think I commented on the apple on your Flickr thinking it was yours. Your flower is awesome too!

Your comment:

Name

Mail

Website