Scratchboard

My job, my career, my calling is that of a high school art teacher. Years ago, we had covered most of the required projects and I was going through the supply catalog, looking for something different to use for a project. I found scratchboard.

Scratchboard is a 2-dimensional subtractive art form. The support typically consists of a white clay coated board covered with black India ink. Sharp tools are used to remove, or “scratch”, through the black ink, revealing the white clay underneath. The majority of the values within the artwork are achieved by varying the amount of surface layer that has been removed.

I had done scratchboard as a student, I think almost all of us have done a variation of scratchboard. In elementary school scratchboard usually works like this. You cover a piece of poster board with crayons, just random colors. Then the entire surface is covered with black ink. You create your picture by scratching off the black and revealing the color underneath.

The version I had worked on in high school was a heavy paper coated with a white clay and black India ink. Values were created by removing the black ink to reveal the white surface by cross-hatching. I remembered it as a fun project, with the potential for frustration when trying to block out an area pure white and scratching a hole right through your drawing.

As I scanned the catalog pages in my fit of nostalgia I found the Ampersand boards. Instead of paper the substrate was a hardboard similar to 1/8” masonite. I ordered a few class sets and gave it a try. The boards were amazing, not only was the problem of carving through the picture eliminated, but the smooth surface of the board and clay allowed for extremely precise lines. The kids enjoyed the project, I fell in love with it. Working alongside the kids modeling the techniques I started building a collection of boards.

After year three of including this project, my friend and Department Chair, Andrea, said, “Taylor, I don’t know why you bother working in any other media. Why aren’t you just doing scratchboard for your personal artwork?”

I had just looked at scratchboard as a fun distraction, I hadn’t looked at it as real Art. I began researching and discovered the International Society of Scratchboard Artists, ISSA. The work displayed by this group was inspiring and intimidating.

I’m Just a Fan

Movies have been a huge part of my life. Not just because they are entertaining but because they are a shared experiences with loved ones. Those experiences are bonds between friends and family. They also serve as landmarks in my life.

My brother claims that one of his favorite memories was In 1977 I took him with me to see what was supposedly a “B” Summer Sci-fi fantasy adventure called “Star Wars”. 1981, my brother asks if I can drive he and a buddy to see a movie. No idea what it’s about but it stars Harrison Ford. That’s how we found “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. In 1983 as I was going through chemo, Joe returned the favor and took me to see “The Return of the Jedi”. In 1999 as my wife was getting ready to cook us a gourmet meal, we played back our answering machine to hear my 6 year old nephew’s voice, “Uncle Jon, will you come watch Star Wars with me?” I looked at my wife who just sighed and said, “How can you say no to that?”. Enter “The Phantom Menace”.

New Star Wars movie, Star Trek, MCU, if it’s a film happening it’s become a Taylor Tradition. My brother, my nephews, my sons, it’s ‘our thing”.

According to my wife, you’re not a Taylor Man unless you can carry on a whole conversation using movie quotes.

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On September 19th, 2015, Ian’s 12th birthday, as a present, the two of us went to Wizard World in Columbus. A whole new universe opened to us. Friday night we stopped in to the convention center just to get the layout of the floor and rooms. We found a vendor selling custom LEGO style figures from movies and comics. The vendor walked Ian through some wheeling and dealing and threw an extra figure in for free. The kid was walking on air, back in the hotel room he couldn’t put them down. Right there the trip was worth it. Saturday, we walked the artist alley, checked out the cosplay costumes, got a picture with Captain Jack Sparrow, (after all not only is September 19th Ian’s Birthday but it’s also International Talk like a Pirate Day) and went to the panels. Michael Rooker vs the Audience had us rolling. William Shatner of course is … well he’s Shatner. A really interesting panel was Karl Yune. Karl had just finished his run on “Arrow”. Back to the floor, a few key purchases and my kid saying, “Dad, your art is just as good as this stuff.” In the back of my head in a touch of egotism, I agreed with Ian. I could draw as well or better than most the people on the alley. The question is what to draw? What medium should I work in? What would sell? The normal questions that paralyze an artist into in activity.

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I’ll See Your Wookie and Raise You a Jedi Master

So the scratchboards continued in class and one of the kids throws me a curve and does an amazing drawing. Adam being a kindred movie fan, sticks with the idea of fur. But instead of a wolf or lion, he draws a wookie. Yes, he does a scratchboard of Chewbacca and it’s amazing. The challenge was laid down, I had to create a Star Wars based scratchboard and I chose Master Yoda.

I hadn’t made the connection before, but really the creatures in Star Wars were great choices for subjects. The range of textures lent themselves to different mark making as well as different tools. The movie lighting was also dramatic giving a full range of values to work with. But, why stop there movies and television had thousands of characters and creatures. Artist Alley at Wizard World had shown me it could be done.

I had found my medium and a source for my subjects.

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