Featured artist: Joe K. Smith

Front Porch, 7x5, scratchboard on Ampersand Scratchbord

Q: Your work tends to be lighter compared to other scratchboard artwork. Tell us a bit about your intensive drawing process.

I think of the scratchboard as if it was a canvas. I believe that any scene that can be painted can also be scratched. I probably don’t use the black to its best advantage, but I have an inclination to fill the entire surface with my image. I really don’t see that much black in the scenes I am drawing. There are dark areas, but there are shadows within the shadows. I suppose I could leave those areas alone, but I like messing in the shadows.

My process starts with an image, either from my own photo or a pen and ink sketch I’ve drawn. I will trace the image onto the board using transfer paper if it’s a small board. If it’s a large board, I draw it freehand using a grid to guide me. I usually use watercolor and a brush to draw because I can wash off the drawing when I am done with it. I do a lot of my drawing with a #11 X-ACTO® blade, but I will use many different tools, depending on the piece, including scalpels, tattoo needles, and the Speedball® and Ampersand scratching points.

I start with an overall plan for the composition, values, and textures. Each element of the image has its own texture. I try to plan out; the type, frequency, and direction of the scratches I’ll use to create the texture, and I try to keep that in harmony with the overall piece. I use whatever type of mark seems appropriate and often make it up as I go. There are parts to each piece that I am nervous about and worried that I wouldn’t get right, but I’ve found that I just have to dive into it and use my instincts. It usually comes out right, and I also learn something new from experience.

Sometimes I know from the start that I will color the picture. Other times, it’s a decision I make later in the process. When I do, I use the Ampersand Scratchbord inks. I’ll put down several washes with scratches in between to blend colors and remove sharp edges.

Autumn Road, 12x16, scratchboard on Ampersand Scratchboard

 

Q: With your process, your pieces probably take a good amount of time to complete. Do you work on more than one piece at a time? Or do you finish one before starting another?

I usually have several scratchboards going at once, and I have done up to six at a time. Right now, I am only working on two, but they are large, 24x36 and 16x20. I usually work on a few small ones, 5x7 or 8x10s, and larger pieces. The 24x16 is the biggest I’ve done, and they do take a considerable amount of time, especially since I like to scratch the whole surface.

It helps me to have several things going at once. If I get bogged down or lose interest in one, I can move to another. I might learn something about one that helps with another. Mostly it just keeps my interest level high. Of course, I also have a collection of failed or stalled pieces that I can occasionally go back to and find the ideas that were lacking.

 

Wizard Tree, 16x12, scratchboard on Ampersand Scratchbord

 

Q: The way you can capture nature’s details is impressive. Do you think your career as a forester and conservationist help you notice and appreciate those minute details more?

Well, my job gets me out in the woods, and that’s where a lot of my inspiration and ideas come from. Both my job and my art are about observation and interpretation. For one, it’s about ecology. The other is forms and structures, values, and hues. The forest is a chaotic place, and both jobs are about finding order in chaos.

I love drawing trees, especially unusual or large trees. Every day gives me the opportunity of finding my next subject or of just being able to collect more information on those I’m working on. What’s the texture of the bark? What form do the branches take? How does the light fall on it? Years ago, I didn’t always have a sketchbook with me when I made a find, but I wasn’t above using whatever paper I had available to make a quick sketch. Sometimes clients got a bonus piece of art on the back of their forestry report.

These days I always have my camera with me, so I tend to take a lot of photos instead of sketching. I now have zillions of reference photos that are a challenge to manage. I suppose that most of them never get used, but you never know what will come in handy, and I’m never at a loss for reference material.

I have a good eye for subjects that are well-suited for scratchboard. It could be a texture or an unusual shape, but usually, it is the play of lights and darks in a scene that attracts me to it. Whatever it is, I know it when I see it, and I make sure to get a photo that captures whatever catches my eye.

My job gets me off the beaten track. Even in a populated area like Massachusetts, there are a lot of wild places where you can be very alone with nature. Each job provides me with the opportunity to see something new.

 

Dearborn Cottage, 10x8, scratchboard on Ampersand Scratchbord

 

Q: You also paint with oil and acrylic. What is it about scratchboard that makes it your preferred medium?

When I start a piece, I always envision how I want it to turn out. It has been a rare occasion when I achieved that vision. From the first time I tried Scratchbord, however, the pieces came out as good or better than I had envisioned. Drawing is the basis of my art, and I have not found a better drawing surface than scratchboard. There’s something about it that pleases me. I get a thrill from the feel and the sound of the scratching, and I feel more in control than with any other medium. I can control my marks with a precision far greater than the smallest paintbrush. Once I learned to control values, I felt like there was no subject I could not reproduce on scratchboard.

Before scratchboard, I got my best results using pen and ink, perhaps because I like black and white images. Scratchboard is the perfect extension of the pen and ink work and is well suited for black and white images. No other medium provides the almost pure blacks and whites you get with scratchboard.

I am very rough on my boards. There is nothing gentle about my process. I cover the surface with marks and go over it several times. When I get into a rhythm, I go with it. Sometimes it’s like I am attacking the board with my blade, but I have rarely made a fatal mistake. When something isn’t working out, I am not shy about blacking it out and starting over again. The boards have stood up to whatever I have done.

 

Rainy Day Cabin, 14x11, scratchboard on Ampersand Scratchbord

 

Q: A scratchboard work goes through a lot of changes as more scratches are built up. What stage is the most fun?

Well, I tried to pick one but realized there are several, and if there were any stage I didn’t like, I probably wouldn’t still be doing it. I am, however, very partial to the beginning. I love planning out a new picture. And I get a thrill out of starting something new, taking on a new challenge, or finally getting to a favorite scene I’ve wanted to draw for a long time. I actually start building up the anticipation of a new work while I’m in the later stages of the current work, which can be distracting. That first scratch on a new board is a magical moment.

Then there’s also the point in most pictures when I feel things falling into place. Some parts of the early stages can be difficult and tedious, like filling in a large sky, and most times, the picture goes through an ugly phase. There are a lot of decisions being made but no clue yet as to whether they were the right ones. But at some point, it all comes together, and I can see every scratch adding to the whole and bringing the end into sight. Sometimes, when this happens, I feel like I am painting with my blade. There are times, too, when I find little details in the picture that I didn’t know were there, and I had not consciously put them there, but they seemed to emerge from the board.

Coloring the pictures is fun too, and it creates many new challenges and decisions, but the rewards can be high. I like layering, blending colors, and fiddling with my blade, and a lot of scratching goes on after the colors are added to get them just right.

 

Stone Bridge, scratchboard on Ampersand Scratchbord

 

Q: What do you love most about Ampersand Scratchbord for your work?

As I think I’ve said, Scratchbord is a wonderful drawing surface that is always true. It is durable, and it is versatile. It suits me well, and I get a lot of fun out of it. What more could you ask for?

 

 

Artist Bio:

​Joe Smith (b. 1954) is a Massachusetts artist who best known for his scratchboard works featuring trees and forests. His art connects his lifelong enjoyment of drawing with his career as a forester and conservationist. This career has brought him to places off the beaten path, and his art has allowed him to capture the beauty he has found there.

Joe began creating scratchboards in 2010 and they immediately earned rave reviews and awards. On the strength of this work, he was accepted as an artist member of the Copley Society of Art, The International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA) and the Rockport Art Association and Museum. His piece, Branches, was awarded the Best in Show Award at the 2015 ISSA Annual Exhibition and he has been honored as a Copley Artist by the Copley Society of Art.

Joe’s work is mostly drawn from the varied landscapes of his beloved New England home. His finely detailed work captures the unique character and spirit of the wild places that exist all around us, but just out of sight. To see more of Jim work, visit his website and Instagram.

 

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