Owen No. 3

Owen #3 

5x7" on Claybord with Ampersand black ink.

This was done mostly with a #11 scalpel for the face and hair

and a Tombow abrasive eraser for the background. 

Of the three versions from the same original photo this is the one I like the best.

Owen Finished

This is 2 7x5 black Ampersand boards photoshopped together. I got so used to seeing them side by side like this I like it now. Maybe if I get the 3rd one finished it will go on here too.

The first one has a very light watercolor tint on it. Neither have been sprayed with the finish coats of fixative yet, but both have 2 light layers of Blair workable fixative on them. That is what is causing the mottling right now. I don't have enough of the Blair to finish these and other scratchboard artists have cautioned me not to mix brands or types of fixative. I guess I'll hunt a bit harder for the Blair. Too much work in these to want to ruin them.

I'm pretty happy with them even though his daddy doesn't think the likeness is good enough. I'm still learning so I'll keep practicing. I've already found a variation of the skin technique that I like better for smoother skin that involves going over the skin in every direction with very small light scratches. It gives almost an etched quality to it.

WIP: Owen

WIP: Owen, 7x5, black scratchboard from Ampersand - Stage 1

My grandson, a very sweet 2 year old. This is about 2 hours worth of work so far with a long ways to go, but I'm happy with the progress so far. I've not tried any portraiture in scratchboard and haven't done any kind of portrait in art for a long time.

Stage 2: lots of scratching into the shadows. It's too light now compared to the bright side so the next step will be to brush a diluted ink wash of the Ampersand black ink over the shadow side and work on the planes of the face. The shadow side looks too flat.

More progress to be posted here as I work.

Still working. The bottom right is the latest scratch progress. I need to work in the shadow areas more with dark ink washes. I'm also distracted by the 3 sunlit dashes in the bottom right area. I'll wash over those too. Coming along though. I want to do a couple more versions of this in the same size. One on blackboard again leaving the dark areas unscratched, and one on whiteboard.