Assignment 5: Scratch art animals
Read about scratch art techniques before learning what your assignment will be.
One of the best ways to explore texture and value is through the study of animals, like the fur shown in this wolf. It's as if we can feel how soft it is if we were to be able to touch the wolf. That is visual texture! Scratch art Emphasize the eyes! We see life through the beauty of eyes. Eye detail and value (shading) in the eye created life and movement. The eyes are at the heart of all visual life. |
You can create texture through lines like shown in this eagle. Create contrast by leaving some areas all black. This helps create 3-dimensional forms and the illusion of depth. These are the areas a scratch art knife would not carve into. Everything you carve, turns white. What you don't carve will stay black. An examples of leaving an are black in this dog is with his nose. mouth, and lines in the ear. Notice the artist created many lines but still left some areas black in the fur. That created depth, texture, and fur! |
Be careful! Left Vs. Right
Don’t overdo the scratching. Create value by leaving some areas dark! Be careful of the straight chicken scratch lines. Compare this drawing with the wolf towards the top of the page. Huge difference right? Know when to STOP carving. |
Notice how dark areas are left in the drawing, almost as if a small light is shining down on the animal. Both artists achieve this by carefully studying which areas they want light and what they want left dark.
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ALERT!!
Above all else, DO NOT use cliche' suns and clouds to fill space. Grass and some branches are okay if it's done carefully. NEVER in any drawing should you use the corner sun or cotton candy clouds. It's an absolute no in my classroom. Remove that habit from your brain ASAP.
ASSIGNMENT
Your Question: How will you showcase the beauty of an animal’s physical appearance?
Assignment:
Create two scratch art animal drawings using black clay boards and a scratch knife.The animal you choose must be complete opposites of one another. My advice. Choose one animal and complete that one first. Then, analyze it and decide another animal to do that is opposite from it.
GRADING CRITERIA
1. Must be real animals.
2. Showcase the proper physical beauty of the animal’s appearance including as much details as possible
3. Create contrast, value, and texture
4. Animal is balanced on the board and takes up most of the board’ space.
5. Use shadows to emphasize certain areas of the animals face.
6. How emphasize of the eyes to create a life-like quality.
STEPS for scratch art1.Print out a picture of an animal on an 8.5 x 11 in piece of paper. Make the animal fit as large as possible before printing. It should take up most of the paper. 2.Transfer your printed animal onto a black scratch board using transfer carbon paper. The transfer paper is located in the cabinet closest to the clock on the lower left hand side. It looks like the paper to your left. *To transfer the image. Place the scratch board facing up, then the transfer paper shiny side down, with the animal sheet your printed out on the very top. It's like making a sandwich, with the transfer paper being in the middle. Using a pen or pencil trace your animal's outline. If you lift up the transfer paper, you should see a silver outline on the animal transferring onto the black scratch board. 3.Begin carving onto your scratch board, creating contrast, value, the animal’s texture, and detailed animal characteristics. Once you carve you cannot erase, so take your time. Their are two sets of carving knives. Some are curved edge and some are straight edge. Use both to create your drawing. You will see that they each work and create lines differently. Straight edge is used for small detailed lines. The curve edge tool is used to create more white space. |
Create 2 scratch art animal drawings that are Opposites
Remember, you must create two scratch art animal drawings. The animals must be opposite of one another in some way. An example of this would be a parrot and an elephant. One can fly while the other is very heavy and grounded. One has a soft feathery texture while the other is very course. They are an examples of opposites.
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Once you COMPLETE your drawings, write an Artist statement answering these Questions (complete and place in portfolio for me to review later)
1.What were your two animals of study and how could they be seen as opposites? (think about appearance, textures, habitat)
2.What elements and principles of design were used to create your animal?
3.In sum, how successful were in creating your animals appearance? Which animal drawing do you feel is stronger and why?
2.What elements and principles of design were used to create your animal?
3.In sum, how successful were in creating your animals appearance? Which animal drawing do you feel is stronger and why?