- Off Duty? - Final
Finished! 5" x 7" scratchboard (Ampersand Scratchbord), with watercolor and some India ink for re-inking & drawing long, black hairs. From my own reference photo taken at a dog play day many years ago. - Off Duty? 5
Almost finished ... Since the last scan, I scratched to bring back highlights on his fur, added a lighter edge on the tennis ball and the highlights in his eyes, and worked on the white parts of his fur a little bit. And miracle of miracles, I used the "Auto Color" adjustment in Photoshop and it did a pretty awesome job of fixing the scan. I usually can't rely on that setting, but I'm sure happy it worked this time! - Off Duty? 4
With color (watercolor). I didn't spend a ton of time on color-correcting this scan. The dog looks pretty accurate, but the water isn't quite right. I'll take more time when I scan the final. At any rate, in the home stretch at this point. Next:scratching to add highlights on the dog, and separate him from the background. - Off Duty? 3
Border Collie is all scratched, ready for color! That will help pop him out from the background. He won't have spooky eyes either. After adding color, I'll scratch as needed. - Off Duty? 2
Still working on scratching the dog, but I've started adding a water background. Read the story about the water here: When You Want Different Water - Off Duty? 1
5" x 7" scratchboard of a Border Collie: "Off Duty?" because anyone who knows Border Collies knows they're working even when they're playing. - 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. - Jack 8 (Final)
Jack's finished portrait. 7" x 5", scratchboard with watercolor. Everything except the whiskers was scratched with a #16 X-Acto blade. I used a Slice ceramic cutting tool for the whiskers. The color in this image is more accurate than the previous one, it leans more toward magenta tones. - Jack 7
Now with color. Scratching needed to blend here & there, and to bring back some lighter areas. Whiskers will go on last. - Jack 6
Ready for color! This version is softer than the previous, where I had added back black. I softened & blended that black with scratching. - Jack 5
Darkest areas added with a tech pen. The texture of those areas still looks a little "chunky", but I'll blend that out with some scratching.