Scratchboard

Artist Statement: 

I found this style of art very interesting, because in most art you would draw in black or white, but in this, you would pull the white in instead of the black. It was very unique and cool, the only downside was all the scratching noises. I chose to do my cat Coco because I had made one of my previous favorite artworks on my cat Pebbles. I also did him because of his many individual hairs that would be clear for the drawing. 

I just used assorted scratchboard drawing tools, but most of the drawing was with the one with the red handle, and the ears were with the fiberglass one. 

The work was difficult and precise. You needed to make every single hair in the correct spot. I chose to tackle this challenge by doing it in areas rather than starting somewhere and working my way over the rest of the drawing. I took it slow with the tool to try to get clan lines, and not rip the scratchboard. Although unfortunately there was a small rip after I had outlined the cat figure.  I decided to outline the drawing on the scratchboard for this, so I could know where the different parts of the cat were, while not having to compare with the photo. I only decided to use the fiberglass tool twice, and those times were for the ears, and the eyes. My reasoning was that I didn't need those body parts full white like the background, but they also didn't have streaks, so I went with the middle option of the tool because it created a lightish gray.