In 1968, I was a student at Chicago’s American Academy of Art, when I discovered the art medium of scratchboard. One day, our teacher in the design class told us to go to the school store and buy a piece of scratchboard, plus a blade to scratch with. I was given a black, inked board, and following a brief demonstration, I started making my first scratch board art: a detailed black & white picture of a rhinoceros. I was hooked by this fascinating new (to me) art medium!

What is scratchboard? Scratchboard or scraperboard is a card heavily coated with china clay giving a smooth surface which is then over-printed with black ink. A cutting tool engraves a line through the surface ink to expose the white beneath.

The drawing is made by scratching white lines through the ink with a sharp tool, such as a sharp X-acto blade knife, a box cutter blade, or a special scratchboard nib held in a pen holder. The more lines that are drawn, the brighter the picture becomes. The clay coating under the ink allows the sharp point to remove the ink easily without tearing the board support. A scratchboard drawing is often very highly detailed and can resemble a wood engraving. It offers an artistic medium which is clear and precise.

The Technique of scratching on the board: Start by drawing your subject matter directly on the Scratchboard surface with chalk pastels, plain white chalk or graphite pencil. You can also transfer a completed drawing by chalking the back of the art and tracing over the main lines with a pen or pencil, or by using graphite transfer paper (similar to old typewriter carbon paper, but in a white color). I usually transfer the major lines, but not every small line – when I begin to scratch, I will add the small details of the art.

To begin, scratch out the major lines from your drawing on the scratchboard. You can scratch in directional lines to show volume (i.e., for a round object, scratch in curved lines). Once you have the general outline of your image in place, start sculpting out the shapes.

You have to “think in reverse”: unlike a normal drawing, where you create the lines & dark areas, in scratchboard you actually create the light areas. If there is an area that’s light, you need to scratch out more of the ink; for dark areas, only scrape out a few lines to show highlights.

Some correction can be done by re-inking the exposed white board. I used a permanent India ink for making corrections. One caution is to not dig too deeply into the white clay service, as that will create a rough trough that prohibits further corrections or re-inking.

While black & white scratchboards are the finished look, color can be added as well. I find that dry mediums like pastels work best for adding color, you can also paint with watercolour by using a minimum of water, or the black ink might smear.

Lastly, the best source for buying scratchboard is from online dealers, as our local Penang supply stores do not carry the medium ant more.

Happy scratchboarding!