About Scratchboard
How Does It Work?
The scratchboard surface starts out solid black. When you scratch the board you get a white mark. These white marks eventually end up creating a picture.
What Is A Scratchboard?
A piece of paper or board is coated with a layer of white. clay material and then sprayed with a thin layer of black ink. The diagram shows the layers of scratchboard.
What Tools Are Used?
The primary tool that Paul Hopman uses is a stylist with interchangeable blades and scratching nibs. Check out my video on scratchboard stylus.
How Do You Add Color?
Use pastel chalk to bring vibrant color to your scratchboard pieces. Scrap chalk to make chalk dust and apply with an applicator.
How Do You Add Shade?
A shading stick will provide shading and touching up. Use a small paint brush to distribute the shading on the scratchboard art piece.
Can It Come In A Kit? YES!
Everything needed for scratchboard has been assembled in a scratchboard kit. There are two kits one for youth and one for adults.
Scratchboard Demo Video
- Tracing a Reference
- What Tools Do You Use
- Keeping the Board Clean
- Lighting
- Signing Your Work
VIDEO [8 min]
A TOTAL OF 66 VIDEOS
Lessons & Techniques
A collection of 30 videos of Paul Hopman demonstrating a variety of scratchboard techniques
Scratchboard Tools
A collection of 11 videos of Paul Hopman sharing tools and scratchboard techniques
Scratchboard Animals
A collection of 13 videos looking into some of Paul's scratchboard animal collection
Paul Hopman's Portraits
A collection of 5 videos of Paul Hopman's amazing collection of scratchboard portraits
Paul Hopman: On the Road
A collection of 7 videos of Paul Hopman on the road at shows and in the classroom
Artist, Illustrator, and Teacher
PAUL HOPMAN
Art is great for kids, but with the decline in school arts programs all over the country, student access to the arts is limited. Art has many benefits to children and adult a like. Because of Pauls’ desire to help others create their own works of scratchboard art, he founded Scratchboard University.
Scratchboard University helps kids and adults by providing instructional help and the tools to make their creative dreams possible.
VIDEO [2 min 09 sec]1
“Why did I start ScratchBoard University? It’s an opportunity to unlock your creativity.”