- "Tale of the Tail" - 1st Scan
This is a scan of the CJ drawing, it's much better quality than the previous images that were cell phone photos. The first layer of color is down, I've fiddled with adding & subtracting (by scratching) color to the foreground & background, and I'm starting to scratch the tiger fur. The section of mom's tail to the left of CJ's face is taking shape now that the color has been scratched. - "Tale of the Tail" - 2nd Scan
FInished with the first round of scratching. The drawing is much lighter, but also softer, & it has more detail than the previous stage. Even though it's so much lighter, I can still see my color "roadmap". Next... adding more color... - "Tale of the Tail" - 3rd Scan
I've added watercolor. I forgot to touch up a couple of the black stripes on the right side of mom's tail before I scanned the drawing, so they're still too light. Next steps will be scratching to bring up highlights, and color pencil to add details. The last step will be adding CJ's whiskers. Click for a little time-lapse video of this stage and the last two. - "Tale of the Tail" - 4th Scan - Final Drawing
The finished drawing (Sold) 3" x 4.75" on Claybord (white scratchboard) Ink (Pitt Art Markers & India Ink), watercolor, color pencil & scratching. The scratching on this drawing is still quite visible on the original, so decided to call it "scratchboard", but it could also be called "mixed media". Thanks to Erik Bowker for this reference photo of CJ the Sumatran Tiger cub, taken at the Sacramento Zoo. CJ is now a very handsome adult living at the Los Angeles Zoo. You can see two short videos on my IG page, showing the progression of this drawing - click here. - "Tale of the Tail" - color & scratching
I'm a bit "all over the place" at this stage with this drawing. I haven't scratched all the black ink yet, but I've started adding color with Pitt Artist Pens. - "Tale of the Tail" - early stage - ink & scratching
The start of a 3" x 4.75" drawing of a tiger cub, playing with his mom's tail. Reference photo courtesy of Erik Bowker. I've added ink with a technical pen & have started scratching. The lighter black areas are the scratched portions. - "Tale of the Tail" - Materials and Progress
Tools of the trade. Here I'm still working on the first pass of scratching, after I finish that, I'll add more color. I'll switch to watercolor for that, I have to layer colors when I use the pens, but I can mix the exact color I need with watercolor. - "Tale of the Tail" - more color
More color, but CJ's back still needs color added. - Chrome Rising - detail of process on hood
Close up of the eyebrow tattoo needle. It has multiple sharp pins that create a linear scratch pattern. - Chrome Rising - detail of process on hood
The section on the bottom left shows how it looks after I've scratched w/the #16 X-acto blade. - Chrome Rising - detail of process on hood
My trusty #16 X-acto. I used it to further scratch the area where I've used the tattoo needle. That breaks up the linear effect, I want a smoooooth effect on the hood. - Chrome Rising - detail of process on hood
I used the tattoo needle in the lengthwise direction, then in an angled direction (but not 90 degrees to the other direction). - Chrome Rising - detail of process on hood
This series of 5 images shows how I started work on the section of the hood of the "Chrome Rising" drawing.
This is an eyebrow (or cosmetic) tattoo needle. I used it to clear away some of the black on the car hood. - Chrome Rising - Final
"Chrome Rising" - 6" x 6" scratchboard. 1941 Cadillac hood ornament, from my own reference photo.
Scratched with a #16 X-acto & an eyebrow tattoo needle (on the hood of the car), re-inked (stippling) with a technical pen.
I was mostly happy with the previous version of this drawing, but the contrast between the hood & the background in the corner bothered me. It pulled the eye right off the edge. I re-worked the hood to make it darker and now it reads better. I stippled with a technical pen to make the entire hood darker, and then scratched to blend & add highlights.
Part of the reason I didn't anticipate the issue in the corner is that I usually erase the backgrounds in Photoshop to save printer ink and avoid distraction from the subject. This a case where that worked against me, because in the photo, the background was white, so I wasn't seeing that contrast between the hood & the solid black background until I was finished. See the next 2 images - my reference photos... - Chrome Rising - Reference Photo 1
Here's the original reference photo. You can see the hood was white, but without a dark background, the contrast situation wasn't distracting.