Bryan Ballinger – Piggies in digital scratchboard

I am blown away by so many master-level scratchboard artists that are producing realistic people and animals. A lot of the time, that type of work is what I am looking for when I search the net for ink-and-clay eye candy. On the other hand, I also have a soft spot for more rustic, conceptual work, especially if it’s cute. I ran across some cute pigs by Bryan Ballinger on www.breadwig.com. It looks like they were done on a tablet rather than traditional scratchboard. No matter. I think they are awesome.

A new board by Russ McMullin – George Washington

No long ago I saw a painting by Gilbert Stuart from 1795 that inspired me to try a portrait of George Washington. I’ve thought about this before, but never got around to it. With Stuart’s portrait as a jumping off point I ended up with something I was pretty pleased with.

This is done on 8×10 Ampersand Scratchboard, using a #16 Xacto blade. Sakura and Staedtler pigment pens were used to touch up my mistakes.

George Washington in Scratchboard