"Down on the Farm" - New Series

In 2011, Laurie Barrows, the curator of the Art Can Heal program at the Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital contacted me to see if I'd be interested in showing my work there. I agreed, but our 2012 schedules didn't mesh, so we chose April 2013 for the show. The show opens in mid-April, but I don't have the exact date yet.

I decided I wanted to come up with a new series of scratchboard drawings, since scratchboard is an under-represented medium and I truly love sharing it with others. Scratchboard drawings are more time-intensive than other mediums I use, but I had months to come up with a new batch of drawings and I planned to work these drawings in a simpler style than I usually do. Well, of course, the drawings took on a mind of their own, and they're not really much less detailed. And as is always the case, although I started on the first board of this series in December of 2012, I'm feeling the time crunch to get them all finished! Having said all that, I'm really happy with how the boards are turning out and have been getting wonderful feedback as I share them on Facebook and WetCanvas.

I chose "Down on the Farm" as the theme for my show, since I have plenty of reference photos of farm animals. Completed so far are a border collie, our dog Arrow, a donkey, a cat, a chick, a sunflower and a vintage Ford tractor. Nearly finished is a pair of mini foals. I've just started on a goose and left to do are a border collie/sheep diptych, a goat, two hens, a pig and a cow. That's fifteen in total, but I'm making good progress! You can see the series and various stages of progress in my Facebook album.

"Tough Chick", 6" x 6" Ampersand Scratchbord, colored with Derwent Inktense pencils
This is one of the boards, "Tough Chick". All but two of the reference photos are my own. One of the hens I'll be drawing is from a photo by Katherine Plumer. Kat Moore, a fellow scratchboarder offered some photos of her banty chickens. She sent quite a few and I fell in love with this one.



I've been scanning a few in-progress stages of each of the boards in this series. Here are the scans of "Tough Chick", along with the reference photo. As I do with all my scratchboard drawings, I also work with a greyscale version of the photo, to give me a better idea of the tones of the image. The second greyscale image is one with adjusted contrast to give me more darks and lights.







At this stage, the scratching is mostly complete


One of the ways I'm saving a little time is by not re-scratching very much after I've added the color. If this were going to be a stand-alone drawing, I'd go back in and scratch out more of the black and re-color to build even more depth and detail. As it is, these drawings resemble tinted photographs or woodcuts, and that's perfectly ok!

An animated image of the stages

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Mini Scratchboard Drawings

These two small scratchboard drawings are available. I started them as demo pieces and I just finished the border collie. In fact, I still need to spray it with sealer, I'm just waiting for a day with minimal humidity! The llama has been finished for a little while. Each is $125 plus shipping (and tax if purchased in CA). You can either "buy now" via the PayPal button below the drawing, or contact me (annranlett [at] gmail.com) if you're not a fan of PayPal. Please note that I ship only to the US, UK, Australia or Canada. Price as shown below plus $5 additional shipping (sales tax will be added if you're a California resident). A small wooden easel is also included with either drawing.

Llama, Original Scratchboard Drawing, 3" x 5"
on Ampersand Scratchbord™

"Ship to" Country

US $125.00 USD Canada $128.00 USD UK/Australia $130.00 USD

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"Ready to Work" - Border Collie, 2.75" x 4.75"
on Ampersand Claybord™

"Ship to" Country

US $125.00 USD Canada $128.00 USD UK/Australia $130.00 USD

If you'd like to see other works I have available, please visit my "Available Art" album on Facebook.

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Pit Bull Pup - Scratchboard Drawing

Just a quick blog update today. In my previous post, I shared an in-progress image of this guy. Now he's finished! This is a 5" x 5" drawing on Ampersand Scratchbord. After scratching to block things in, I re-inked with dots (stippling) and a few scribbles to darken certain areas. Then I scratched more to soften the stippling and achieve the final result.

I'm excited about framing this one and the companion piece (his sister, also in the previous post) because when I visited my favorite frame shop (Wholesale Art & Framing in Rocklin, CA), the owner helped me pick out a gorgeous grey suede mat. I never would have thought to go with grey, since I usually use black or white for my scratchboards, but the grey looks wonderful.

Here are a couple of details of the drawing:




Here's a video of the drawing process:

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Scratchy Connections and Art

I've been in the scratchboard zone recently and it has led to a lovely article about my work. Through sharing my scratchboard works on the Ampersand Art Product's Facebook page (and group page), I made a connection with their marketing gals and it resulted in this post on Ampersand's blog. I'm truly honored to be featured and I've been very impressed with Ampersand's support of their artist customers.

In addition to the scratchboard Papillon portrait I finished recently, I joined the International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA) and I've been working on two companion pieces for the April Auburn Art Walk. This one, of an 8-week-old pit bull pup, is finished and awaiting completion of her brother's portrait.


Currently Untitled, Pit Bull Pup, 5" x 5", ink on Ampersand Claybord

I met and photographed these two and their five other siblings at A New Hope Animal Foundation in 2010. They were rescued along with their mother and have since found new homes. They were 8-weeks-old at the time I took photos. This drawing isn't finished, but is a little further along than this scan. I still need to work on his face.

Work in Progress, Pit Bull Pup, 5" x 5", Ampersand Scratchbord
As is typical for me, I'm juggling a few projects (in various media) at once. I'm also creating a series of photo boards for the Art Walk (see them in my Art Walk show catalog) and nearing completion on this mixed media portrait.


Commission Work in Progress, Caesar, 5" x 5", Watercolor Art Board

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"Percheron Power" - Scratchboard Drawing

This 5" x 7" drawing on Ampersand's Scratchbord (black scratchboard) is going to the "Art at the Classic" art show at this year's Draft Horse Classic, September 22 - 25 in Grass Valley, CA.



I usually work on white boards, but have recently been inspired by members of the WetCanvas Scratchboard Forum to try some black boards. This is only my fourth black board compared to countless white board drawings. I use a similar technique on a black board - scratching and re-inking to get the smooth transitions I want. I also added a wash of grey (diluted India ink) over everything except the chrome when I was finished with the scratching.

I took the reference at a Draft Horse Classic a few years ago. This is the greyscale version (not much different from the color version, with the exception of some red on the mane decorations).



I opted not to draw a couple of things from the photo as a matter of simplicity and design: the white ribbons hanging down from the mane and the one piece of bridle pulling upward on the horse's mouth. I looked at many photos of tacked-up draft horses and discovered that most every horse had a different tack configuration, so I figured it was ok to get rid of that one bridle component. I also shortened the length of leather on the chinstrap.

Following are various phases of the drawing with a few details thrown in.

This stage shows the white transfer lines and the initial scratching on the horse's head.




This stage shows scratching on the mane, some of the chrome and more work on the horse's head.


This stage and the details show most of the scratching finished.






These are details of the final drawing.

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Lorna Doone - Scottish Highland Cow

"Lorna Doone", 5" x 7" Drawing

Lorna and her sister Mary (as in Queen of Scots) are two wonderful and woolly Scottish Highland Cattle. Their owner invited me over a few years ago to meet them and take photos. They're very sweet girls and I got plenty of great reference photos. I just love the texture of their shaggy coats and I knew they'd be great subjects for art.


Color Reference Photo


Reference Photo - converted to greyscale, contrast tweaked

I decided to do this illustration on Ampersand Scratchbord (formerly Claybord Black). And yes, it's spelled "bord". Scratchbord is a 1/8" thick panel with a smooth clay surface that's pre-coated with black ink. I do 98% of my scratchboard drawings on a white surface on which I paint/draw the black areas where I want them, but some images just cry out for an all black surface. To "draw" on the black surface, I scratch in the lines with an X-acto knife (#16 blade) - basically, I'm drawing white with the knife. I can go back in and ink a few places with black to adjust the contrast or fill in an area, but mostly I just scratch away to expose the white surface under the black coating. I can also "re-scratch" the inked areas to soften the contrast. I did that on parts of the horns and on the darkest areas of Lorna's hair. The solid black background is the original pre-inked surface. On this drawing, I also scratched a very thin line along the edge and added some random scratches for effect.


Detail 1 of "Lorna Doone"


Detail 2 of "Lorna Doone"

I decided not to frame this drawing. I sprayed the surface with Claybord Fixative (seals, protects and removes smudges) and have put a hanger on the back - simple! In trying to find a link to the Fixative, I've discovered it was discontinued in 2007 (obviously, I've had mine for a while) and they're working on a new formulation with UV protection. In the meantime, Ampersand recommends Krylon #1305 or #1309.

I won't be making my own cards or prints of this one - too much black - it'll chew through my printer ink in no time, but you can buy note cards from my Zazzle shop.

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