This piece is from a very talented Romanian award winning artist call Cristina Penescu. She creates very detailed pictures in acrylic and scratchboard. I've never come across scratchboard before recently finding her work. It's a unique medium as the image is engraved into the scratchboard. "Scratchboard consists of a 1/8" Masonite panel that is coated with a layer of white clay which is then coated with a fine layer of India ink. A sharp tool, such as an x-acto knife or scalpel is used to carefully remove the ink layer to reveal the clay beneath. Other abrasive materials, such as sand paper and fibreglass brushes can also be used to achieve a wide range of effects. Each scratchboard piece consists of tens of thousands of small cuts or scratches which are layered upon one another to create a sense of depth and tone. Once the entire piece has been scratched out, it can be toned by applying ink either with a paintbrush or an airbrush. Black ink can be added and then the piece can be re-scratched in key areas to achieve an expanded tonal range, or the piece may be coloured using watercolour. Finished works are sealed with a satin-finish fixative to prevent further scratching of the board. Scratchboard is archival, just like other art mediums, and can be framed with or without glass" - This is an explanation from the artist herself (http://www.wild-visions.com/artist.html).
After learning about the medium that this image was made with, I really was shocked when I saw this again. It's quite interesting the fact that she chose to depict dogs legs and paws. Also the way she has used fading to draw the viewers attention to the legs in the foreground makes it almost like a photograph as she has created a field of depth. The composition is strong as the centre paw is so light then the others create a gradient as they become darker.
She has had no formal teaching and is self-taught; there are other pieces as strong as this which is why I thought she was worth the mention.
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| Within Reach, 2010, scratchboard, 6.75 x 12 |
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