I got into scratchboard art completely by accident.  I bought a pre-printed scratchboard kit for my daughter for Christmas, and it looked so fun I got one for myself.  I was so impressed with the result, I wondered what it would be like to do my own artwork "from scratch" on blank scratchboard.  So I started experimenting, and it turns out that I'm better with a scratchboard than with a pencil, and I love doing it. 

Chincoteague Ponies
Thanks to the Fish and Wildlife Service, artists have a wealth of excellent public domain photos to work from.  This piece depicts Chincoteague ponies during the annual pony swim.

My brother, Sean, has two cats.  I offered him a scratchboard portrait for his birthday and he asked for an owl.  Go figure.  This was my first 11x14 and it took FOREEEEEVER. Soft, smooth gray is really hard.  Ended up being a combined birthday/Christmas present a few months late.  Oh well.  It was worth the wait, right? 

I have a soft spot for Rusty - my first paying customer!  Rusty's owner Ray Jacobelli is a coworker of mine who was impressed by Juneau's portrait and wanted one of his trusty Shiba Inu sidekick.  This one demonstrates how a scratchboard portrait can be created with a white background instead of a black background if it suits the piece.  I am told Rusty appeared to recognize himself when Ray showed the finished work to him!

I'm an equal opportunity animal lover.  My friend C.J. Haldeman provided me with a fabulous photograph of his cat Elfie to use for practice.  This one shows how an amazing photograph can help create an amazing scratchboard portrait.  I still love this one so much that some day I'm going to have to do it a second time just to keep one for myself!  And yes, every individual hair and line was etched by hand.  This is not a copy of the photo! 

Juneau was my first experimental subject.  You can find the original photo I worked from on his page.