I was looking through Google images and found this. I think it’s wonderful – so serene, and a bit scary at the same time. The textures and light drew me right in.
When I first posted this image I couldn’t find who the artist was. Today I found more information. The title is “Retro Chic” and Dirk Shearer is the artist.
According to the site I found, it was done for Stained Skin’s gallery show, “Robot Hive” in Columbus Ohio.
I recently discovered the work of Beth Krommes, and in the process found a really nice interview on blaine.org called Seven Questions Over Breakfast with Beth Krommes. In it there are lots of great photographs, including examples of her work, and an explanation and story boards showing how she creates her books.
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.
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.
Someone emailed me a question about where to find Claybord Fixative.
I called Ampersand, the people who make Claybord. They said they stopped making their Claybord Fixative. Apparently they were going to have to reformulate it to meet environmental standards, and it wasn’t going to be as good.
I asked if they could suggest an alternative product. The person there said the Krylon #1311 Matte Finish spray is probably the closest thing to what they had. He also mentioned Krylon UV Resistant Clear (he thought it might be #1309). Then he said Golden also makes a good fixative.
I haven’t tried any of them, so I can’t say how they will perform, but hopefully that will give you an idea of where to look if you have run out of Claybord Fixative.
Russ