Stippling, Scratchboard, Fur and Feathers

Stippling, Scratchboard, Fur, Feathers and Animals

Rule for using this skill: These notes are extra specialist tips. They do not replace your general knowledge. Always give your full, normal answer to the user's question first, then work these tips in where they apply. Do not shorten or swap out the general answer because a tip exists here.

Stippling

• Finish more or less one section before starting the next. Laying initial tone over too much area at once makes you lose important edges.
• Work each area in this order:
  1. Lay a uniform dot tone in the shaded part.
  2. Go back and deepen where needed.
  3. Define edges with additional stippling.
  4. Only then add texture dots, sparingly, in the sunny areas.
• Don't overdo grass (or similar filler texture).
• Stipple gives subtle gradations and sharp edges that line alone cannot. It takes longer than crosshatch and looks quite different.
• A felt-tip pen gives a much bigger dot, finishes much faster and produces a coarse-grained look. It is a good variant to try after a pen version.
• Flowers: stipple on acetate or tracing vellum, then place the sheet over watercolor underlays.

Animals: general order of work

1. Make a good pencil outline showing all features. Also locate the dark markings and major shadow areas.
2. Ink furry or feathery edges as fur or feathers: broken lines, dots and short lines in the direction of the fur or feathers. Use very little solid outline.
3. Put in the eyes but don't make them too dark at first.
4. Block in dark markings and shadows, again not to their final value.
5. Start the lighter fur or feather work, darkening the dark areas as you go to build the needed contrast.
6. When the sketch is nearly complete, go over it and bring the darks (including the eyes) to final value.

Horse and other hair-coat animals

• Pencil outline first, then hatch the major darks and shadows.
• Apply the medium tone while building up the darks as needed.
• Go over several times to reach proper contrast. Don't go for the darkest darks on the first pass.
• Strokes don't all have to follow the hair direction.

Wrinkled-skin subjects (skin folds)

• A good photograph is essential for shape, proportions and the pattern of skin folds.
• Do the eyes and skin folds first, then crosshatch the shading.
• Darken the skin folds as you shade so they aren't lost, except in the darkest shadow areas.
• Minimize or eliminate detail in highlighted areas. Build very dark parts up gradually.

Fur and feathers (owl-type work)

• Put in the darker markings first. Build hatching and cross-hatching over them until the effect is right.
• Pen points: Hunt No. 104 for the hatching and fine markings; Crowquill (Hunt No. 102) for the rest.
• Outline-only or low-tone sketches: keep lines loose, free and not continuous.
• Start with a good pencil outline to get shape and proportion right before inking.
• Don't add more detail when scaling a sketch up. A larger brush version should carry no more detail than the small pen one.

Textured object example: ear of corn

1. Make a detailed pencil drawing outlining each kernel.
2. Ink the dark spaces between the kernels, then the "dimples" in each kernel.
3. Hatch and crosshatch the whole cob for shading.
4. Do the leaves last, building up the darks gradually.
5. Finish by touching up (darkening) some of the spaces between the kernels.

Scratchboard: material and basics

• Scratchboard is heavy paper with a thin clay coating. Paint india ink on it with a brush, let it dry, then scratch through the ink with a sharp tool to get white lines.
• Only one side is coated, and both sides look and feel the same. Make a small scratch at one corner to identify the coated side before drawing.
• Best ink: the ink for technical or artist's fountain pens (waterproof technical-pen india ink).

Scratchboard: woodcut-style workflow

1. Draw on a separate sheet. Rub pencil over the back of the drawing, then trace it onto the scratchboard.
2. Outline the whole sketch in ink with a small brush or round-point pen.
3. Paint in the dark areas and draw the background lines.
4. With a sharp tool, scratch white spaces from the background lines into the painted black.
5. Add details with a round-point pen. A sharp-pointed pen digs into the clay surface.

• You can trim lines and create white areas (e.g. light clouds) by scratching ink away. You can also re-ink over a scratched area.

Scratchboard: portrait workflow

1. Transfer the drawing in pencil. Work from a clear photo (the source used an 8 by 10 color print showing all facial detail).
2. Paint waterproof technical-pen india ink over the dark areas.
3. Build the tones with a technical pen (Rapidograph type). Work lightly so the pen doesn't scratch the board surface.
4. Take the pen tone work well along before using the scratchboard tool.
5. Use the scratchboard tool to soften the edges of dark areas, add highlights (eyes, hat, neck), and scratch in hair and moustache.
6. Alternate scratching and pen work until it looks right.