- Art Materials:
- 1) Black scratchboards (preferably large)
- 2) Scratch knives and penholders
- 3) Watercolor sets
- 4) Animal pictures
- 5) Copier machine
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- Art Vocabulary:
- Texture
- Contrast
- Sgrafitto
- Line
- Color Layering
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- Activity:
- Selecting a topic/Exploring
the technique
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- Students were presented with
an oversized black and white scratchboard. The subject matter
focused on close-up (sometimes extreme) views of an actual animal.
Students hone their research skills to find a particular animal
from which to make their compositions most intriguing.
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- Encourage students to utilize
photographs from magazines, books, photographs, and the Internet.
Ask them to seek out images that possess high contrast, visible
texture, and unusual compositions.
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- Once the animal picture is selected
the copier machine should be used to enlarge the picture 200
to 300 percent. The final enlargement can often require up to
six sheets of 8" x 11" paper.
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- Students puzzle and tape the
pieces together and cut away any underlying excess to facilitate
the next step.
- The single-layered photocopy
is placed on top of the scratchboard and the major areas of the
subject matter (eyes, dark and light areas, and identifying shapes)
are traced with a ballpoint pen. Trace-It® transfer paper
by Scratch-Art® can also be used to transfer the images to
the scratchboard below.
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- Heavy pressure is used to "dent"
the scratchboard underneath, so students can easily identify
the areas to be scratched out. The scratching process is tedious
and arduous. Scratchknives might require sharpening several times
with a small file. An assortment of scratchknives is necessary
to remove either large white areas or small textured are as such
as fur and feathers. (It is useful to give students small practice
sized swatches on which to explore the technique.)
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- As scratching proceeds, tap
the boards to remove "scratch dust". The boards should
not be rubbed clean as debris may become embedded in the lines.
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- Adding Color
- Traditional scratchboard is
left white, once scratching is completed. Watercolor can be added
to create exciting colorful effects. Apply watercolor in very
light, thin layers and gradually build them up. Remember students
must remove the black areas of the board to accept color. Eyes
are the perfect example where the black areas must be removed
to allow the colored parts of the eyes to be filled in.
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- The results of this lesson are
amazingly realistic and impressive. View the exhibit of student
work in the gallery section of this website.
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