Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Supplies Used:

2.5"x3.5" Scratchboard *In this case it is black surface, with white underneath

Acrylic Paints (I'm using Grumbacher Academy Acrylics)
*Mars Black
*Burnt Sienna
*Raw Umber
*Raw Sienna
*Grumbacher Red
*Cadmium Yellow Medium
*Cerulean Blue
*Hooker Green
*Thalo Green
*Liquitex brand Titanium White

Paint Brushes
*variety of small round brushes
*Size 0 round used the most

X-acto Knife (blade 11, but most blades would work, as long as they come to a small fine point)

And of course the obvious:
*Water
*Palette (Ice cream pail lid)
*Paper towel
*Reference photo
*Pencil/Paper
*White charcoal pencil (for transfering image)

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Step 1: SKETCHING/TRANSFERRING - 10 Minutes

First, I take my reference photo and sketch it out (on paper) and transfer it to the scratchboard. The scratchboard can be drawn on with white charcoal - it wipes off easily if there are mistakes.

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Step 2: PREPARATION AND BASE COLORS - 20 Minutes

Then I prepare my palette, and mix some starter colors for the various sections of the picture. These layers should be THIN (scratching out hairs is difficult through thick paint). Keep in mind that there will be paint in various layers over top of this, so don't worry about getting colors exact. I'm looking for the "deepest" part of the picture for the first colors I put down (for example, skin color under the hair, or the darkest hairs close to the skin). This paint should be quite watered down, to keep the layers thin, and I usually layer a couple times to get the solid color (always keeping the paint thin for ease of scratching). With this picture, I am leaving most of it black before scratching, as the hairs appear to be coming off of a dark base.

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Step 3: ADDING SOME DETAIL - 20 Minutes

This step involved making the paint a little more "real" - doing some blending, especially in areas that won't be scratched (the photo-blurred type areas, like the background and nose). The paint tends to slide around on this surface - it's incredibly smooth, so it helps to let it dry, then go and add detail afterwards. I will leave the detailing in the eye for the last step.

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Step 4: Scratching! - 1 Hour 20 Minutes

This step involves taking the X-acto knife and scratching out all the hairs. At this point, I am scratching ALL hairs, even if they are black or brown... I will be filling in paint later. Also scratched the whiskers out. This is where really knowing animals comes in handy - unless you can fake it by having a really good detailed photograph. You don't need a lot of pressure on the X-acto to make a mark, but varying pressures will vary the size/depth of the scratch. For the whiskers, I have scratched a few lines side by side to get one wide line.

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Step 5: Painting - 45 Minutes

This step involves layering paint into the lines I have scratched. Of course, some lines should remain white (and can be repainted white if necessary, like the whisker). I water the paint down significantly, almost a wash, and as I brush this wash onto the picture, I am wiping it off with paper towel or kleenex, this leaves the black part, but fills the lines. If I need a line where there isn't one, I can paint it in with a fine brush, or make another scratch as needed.

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Step 6: Detailed Hair Painting - 1 Hour 45 Minutes

This is where I take my fine brush (size 0 or smaller) and do some detailing, still using the thinned paint and wiping technique. I also go back and add some of the darks too, giving the picture a little more depth. This is when it really starts taking shape.

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Step 7: The eye! 1 Hour 30 Minutes

The rest of the cat's face is pretty much done... I'll probably touch up a few things at the end, as I notice little things I don't like, but now it's on to the eye. I'll post a few progress photos here... First step is to simply paint it solid, in the lightest of the greens, then I go in with a very small brush and various colors to do the tiny blending for all the little details in the eye. For the reflections in the eyes - I use a very thin (lots of water) blue/grey/white type of color, and paint it on very thin - so you can still see the eye color underneath. The hairs above the eyes cast a shadow on the eye as well, which is done last.

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

Step 8: Finish and clean up!

I did a few last things to the painting - I almost always forget something, so I double check to make sure it's all the way I want it. I usually go in and do a few last touch-ups here and there (I'm a perfectionist) and then I trim it down to size (I had a bit of extra on the edges, to scratch out onto. Once it is trimmed, I spray it with a matte fixative, and it's complete! The final picture, which you will see on my next post, is the scanned artwork, ready for upload.

Christina Langman 08 Mar 2006

And that ends my tutorial! I hope this is ok, my first time doing this, so advice on how to make it better would be great.

Thanks to EVERYONE for their interest in my work - I'm thrilled with the response I'm getting from these small scratchboard/paint pieces! :)

To comment, visit Cat's Eye II in my portfolio.
To view it for sale, visit my ArtCardsWanted listing for this piece.

THANKS EVERYONE!

Rita Ria 08 Mar 2006

Even seeing how you have done it - it is INCREDIBLE!!! MASTERWORK

RIta

Armando Salas 08 Mar 2006

Stunning technique... and result!