Introduction: I realize that the names of these pieces are rather unimaginative, but that's becuse most of them don't actually have names. I usually don't name my artwork, so I came up with some obvious ones...The art here goes back to 1986, the most recent being 1998.

Scratchboard is a medium that I'm partial to, because it is very dramatic and I'm pretty good at it. It consists of a white board paper that is coated with a black film. By scratching it with a sharp tool, the black film is removed to expose the white surface below. Thus, only black and white show up on the work, and it is basically the opposite of working with pen and ink. This means that highlights are scratched a lot, whereas shadows are left alone.

There is very little room for error, since if you scratch where you shouldn't, you leave a white mark. It is possible to cover this mark with ink, but then that's permanent...The scratchboard is also sensitive to fingerprints and is easily soiled, which means I have to cover the parts that I'm not currently scratching to keep them from getting oily.

The last scratchboard that I did, the Wolf, was done with Clayboard, a wooden panel with the layers described above coated on it. This is the best scratchboard I've worked with. Very easy to use, very smooth, and beautiful, controlled line quality. I wish I would have found it earlier. However, I probably won't be doing anymore scratchboards for a while. I'm delving into what I think is the opposite end of the artistic spectrum, watercolors. Limited control, and vibrant color (see my initial attempts in "2D art."

Click on an image to view an enlarged version of it.

Rabbit
Medium: Scratchboard
Size: 11x14
Description: The very first scratchboard I ever did. It's hard to believe, but I scratched it in 1986 in junior high. I don't think its a rabbit, but that's what everybody calls it. I think it's actually a prarie dog or something.

Tiger
Medium: Scratchboard
Size: 11x14
Description: I did this and the whale in the summer of 1995, while sitting around watching the O.J. Simpson trial (way guilty) and recovering from knee surgery. I gave it to my ex-girlfriend.

Whale
Medium: Scratchboard
Size: 11x14
Description: Did this one at the same time as the Tiger. The original picture was from an advertisement in a airplane magazine.

Batman and Joker
Medium: Scratchboard
Size: 6x5
Description: A scene from the original and best movie.

U2
Medium: Scratchboard
Size: 4x7
Description: From the 'Under a Blood Red Sky' album. Bono is shining a stage light on the Edge.

Skull
Medium: Scratchboard
Size: 5x7
Description: For this one, I took a real life plastic skull and shined a bright light on it to generate a lot of contrast.

Alien
Medium: Scratchboard
Size: 11x14
Description: One of my favorite pieces. Face to face with the Bitch.

Bears
Medium: Scratchboard
Size: 11x14
Description: I gave this to my parents for Christmas one year. My mom likes it because it shows the momma bear teaching the baby bear how to fish.

Wolf
Medium: Scratchboard
Size: 11x14
Description: A Christmas present for my brother, who likes wolves. I have included closeups of the eye and the teeth to show detail.