The art of negative thinking

In between working on Opening Night (see progress below), I started and finished a scratchboard project that I was planning on doing later this year.

Originally, I had hoped to give the piece to my mother as a Christmas gift, but with her eyesight failing, this was something I wanted to make sure she could see. The previous two Christmases, I had given her a scratchboard piece of myself and one of my sister. This one below is my brother. His was easiest of all since he was dressed mostly in dark colors.

Scratchboard has been a style of artwork that I thought I wouldn't like, but have come to enjoy it thoroughly. It's very tedious, but it's also quite relaxing. I was amused the other day when I got it framed because the person who did it also does scratchboard. He said, "It's one of those mediums where you can sit down and work on it and it's six hours later and you don't even know it!"

That's so true.

For those unfamiliar with scratchboard, the surface is white clayboard affixed to what is essentially masonite board. The white surface is then inked, usually with black ink. The product, completely inked and ready-to-go can be purchased at almost any place that sells art supplies. The pre-inked biggest board I have found, however, is 11 x 14. There are other boards made that are larger in size, but those have to be inked by the artist and that can be a more difficult process than the actual scratching itself. 

Once you have the board and your final photo/sketch ready to go, you need to transfer it to the scratchboard. I overlay the surface with white transfer paper, then I put a copy of my photograph/sketch on top of that. From there, it's simply a matter of tracing the top image on to the surface of the scratchboard.

At that point, the real work begins. You are scratching away the black ink to reveal the white clayboard beneath the surface. I use several different tools, but the most precise and the one I use most often is an Exacto knife.

The other key thing in scratchboard is to think "negative." As an artist, you generally proceed from your darkest darks to your lightest lights. The old artist adage -- "Dark to light; Loose to Tight" doesn't apply in scratchboard. You want to find your LIGHTEST lights first, and work backward from there. Thus you are "negative" thinking or thinking in reverse, if you prefer.


Getting back to the piece of my brother, there's a couple of things I wanted to show about the process. The original is a photograph my mother had taken many years ago.

On the left, is the photograph
that I was working from.

As you can see, it's a
black & white. I probably
could have work on his
pants a lot more than
I eventually did, but I 
thought that it would 
detract from the overall
final product.

The piece on the right is the final piece, but you can see
where I circled some corrections I had to make on the board.

There's some thought from people who do not do scratchboard of "Eeeek! You really can't make a mistake with this!" That's not true. In fact, I accidentally spilled some rubbing alcohol in the upper left corner while doing this. In the course of wiping it off, I kind of liked the effect that it left on the surface. So, I tried recreating it in the lower right corner. It didn't work as well, and I knew I had to fix both sides. Very simple -- just re-ink the board where you need to make your fixes. Yes, you can see where the corrections are made, but that can be fixed as well.

You fix the corrections only after you are completely finished with the piece. And it's a very simple fix because you HAVE to do this anyway with any scratchboard piece that you do.

You have to seal it with a glaze of some sort. I prefer a product called Crystal Clear, made by Krylon. You simply spray that over the surface between 6-to-9 times. I vary the direction each time. The other thing I do is to make sure to appy an extra dose or two to the areas where the corrections have been made. As you can see from the final piece, the "errors" have been completely eliminated.

I plan to do a more thorough step-by-step demo of how to do scratchboard down the road, but a good majority of it was covered here!

Opening Night's WIP

I started this acrylic painting in earnest about three-to-four weeks ago now. If you recall from the previous post, I spent the first two weeks painting the image on to illustration board so I could see what colors to use and where and how to put the lighting in the painting.

There's been some changes made from the original

concept and there will be a few more before it is 
completed, but the essence of the work remains intact. 

The lighting in the lower right corner of the painting is just that. Light from a source that is "off painting." I hope that it will be more visually understandable once the final lighting gets put in from the main pole in front of the white Volkswagen. 

Added a couple more cars and they need to be more out-of-focus. The dogs in the front need to get cooler or darker on the left side -- away from the light. The background needs more blending. The front parking lot area between the dogs and the kissing couple may change in shading as well. Still much work to be done and its progress will be duly noted here. (I'm still not sold on my idea of the lighting in the lower right ... )

Love and Romance: Calliope returns

I've been wanting to do this blog's featured painting for a while now, but with the colored pencil show and the pointillism painting, my summer just blew past me like the leaves outside my window this evening.

A series of paintings or artwork around a central theme has been something I've felt the urge to do for most of this year. And the theme's been staring me in the face all the while. I needed to sit back and think about the paintings I wanted to put in the series. I hinted at it a few blogs back when I featured the painting entitled Romance. It's a painting that gets a lot of reaction. It's a theme that strikes a chord with everyone -- love and romance.

I've sketched out between 10-to-12 ideas, including the first one, Romance. I'm not sure I will do all of them. And, this past week, I came up with an idea for another one. So the final total will constantly be in flux. I hope that all eventually tell a story. One that touches everyone in their own way. (I will address that in more detail in a moment.)


In any case, I've actually been working on this painting -- Opening Night -- for about three weeks now. The first two weeks' work, however, has been more than a normal artist's sketch. I actually drew this painting to size (22 x 28) on Bristol board because I needed to get my composition correct. 

When I took it to my Monday evening class, however, I realized that if this was to be my "reference photo," then I better have an idea of what colors I wanted to use as well. Hence I spent the first two weeks of class painting my reference photo.

Opening Night - Reference

I can't say I plan to do all my paintings like this in the future, but it really helped in several ways. First, I had to establish my light source and how it affects my main characters. Second, it helped me to realize I had to adjust my proportions. The cars were entirely too small and I didn't like the tiered look from left to right. Also, the lines between the cars in the parking lot were too straight. Those needed to be angled more to enhance the perspective.

Third, the horizon line is too abrupt. A softer transition, I think, is better. Fourth, I lowered the curb line where the three dogs are. (Calliope is the dog in the middle, by the way). 

I also needed to do some color tweaking. The foreground pavement, I think, needs to be lighter than the background pavement. 

All paintings -- regardless of the medium -- are a matter of pushing and shoving and making adjustments. I can guarantee there will be changes made as I go along developing this painting. Last Monday, I transitioned the drawing from board to canvas and started the actual painting. What you see next is part of what I worked on in class (I started with a blank canvas) and what I have been working on this past week.

Opening Night - Phase 1

I'm still not sure if the cars are big enough, though I am certain the SUV on the left is. Also, I know that the VW in the middle and the red Ford on the right should be the roughly the same height. 

The three little white spots in the center are out-of-focus cars in the background. They may move. More will be added. I think a truck or a bus may go in the background along with some trees, too. 

The main image, however will not change and that's the man and the woman kissing each other in the parking lot as the three dogs look on. Well, two of them are watching. The third, on the far right, is part of my whimsy.

As an artist, you really want to get your viewer to relate to your artwork on a personal level. And the value of working on a piece in a class with other artists can't be overestimated. This painting touches everyone who has seen it so far.

It reinforced to me that I have touched upon a subject that everyone can truly relate to in some way. The reactions have been interesting to hear, especially when most of the artists in the class are women.

One said she liked the painting, but didn't like what it said. I asked why. "I have daughters that age." My response was, "Why does the couple have to be young?" She paused a moment and looked at the painting again and said, "You have a point." The artist comes to any painting with his or her point of view. The viewer, however, sees the image in their own personal way. Interpretation.

My favorite reaction was when one of the ladies looked at the piece for quite a while, then sighed and said, "Oh, to be in love again ..." 

The painting is not done. There's much execution yet to be done. A lot of pushing and shoving to go. But the "job" of an artist -- my purpose -- has already been accomplished. Touching my viewer in their own personal way. How do you relate to this painting? What does it mean to you? In what way does the story touch you?

By the way ... Calliope, whose owner is the male character, isn't quite sure what to make of this development.