History:
The media originated in Britain and France. It replaced wood, metal and linoleum engraving. It provided a better ability to produce fine lines that photographic without losing a quality of appearance. Newspapers used the process as well as illustrations for medical books and graphic novels. In recent years, the process has seen a resurgence in custom art works found in fine art galleries.
The Process:
The panel used is a masonite board layered with a white kaolin clay and then coated with black India ink.
The artist uses sharp implements such as Xacto knives, calligraphy nibs, razor blades, sandpaper, fiberglass brushes, and just about any knife or tool that will get the desired effect. The artist will use varying amounts of pressure to achieve an effect. The more black ink removed the whiter the area. The different size blades will give a different effect. Even diluted alcohol will remove large sections of the black ink.
Once the piece is completed, the artist may choose to leave the image black and white. The other option is to add color to the work using watercolors, acrylic paints, colored pencils, or colored inks. Several coats of Krylon matte finish are added to protect the surface from finger prints, etc.
Wild life depiction and pet pieces are popular topics for scratch art because the techniques work so well to create the image of fur.