Sunday 29 September 2013

Using A Scratch Board At The Art Institute Of Miami

By Matthew Flash


It is a terrific thing for artist to become introduced to completely new mediums. At this point in my career as a possible artist I was using a lot of pastels because they awarded me the look of an acrylic painting, but the speed of making use of charcoal. I began using pastel on a figure drawing school taught by Louis Ulman at the art institute involving Miami. The medium allowed me for you to explore my perception of color. Even with the excitement of color, I have always appreciated the effectiveness of a black as well as white piece.

Scratch Board for the Art Institute associated with Miami

Taking Drawing II with the Miami International School of Art also know because Art Institute associated with Miami was an interesting experience. The trainer Mona Mandall issued 5 projects many using different mediums. The earliest project was employing scratch boards. A scratch board is defined as a board using a black finish, of which you scratch to express white.

I loved the thinking behind having a strong non colored documents image. I searched my creative mind for any source of ideas. I was researching the Akan lifestyle of Ghana Africa at that time. What inspired myself was the image of the Okomfo, or African preist who would splash clay courts powder over his face and body as an approach of purifying himself to connect to the spirits.

At first I found a picture online of any Okomfo. I recall jumping for the wide screen iMac in addition to editing the degrees in Photoshop to raise the contrast. Mona, upon seeing my own image scolded me to the image being on the internet. She said as a possible artist I should ensure it is a practice to utilize original photographs. I understood where by she was caused by; however, I failed to know how I'd personally get such a solid image without getting in Africa for taking the photo.

Thinking of a solution, I saw myself in the image and immediately a light bulb went off. I used the actual schools webcam along with took a personal portrait of myself in a similar way to the image in the net. I could capture a able to be used replica.

It would be my first time employing a Scratch Board for the Art Institute involving Miami

I spent a great deal of work drawing this portrait on newspaper. I drew the idea once and received a lot of criticism from each Mona, and Nana Sakyi, whom was a real Okomfo and artisan. I ended in place redrawing the portrait your second time and falling excited about an alter self confidence; a mystical priest.

I started around the scratch board having a white charcoal pencil to supply me a brain start. I moved to the actual scratching having vigor and assurance. The mark generating felt natural and also intuitive. I will not recall how extended it took me to create it to an amount of completion, but I know I did definitely not stop until My spouse and i was satisfied.

My fellow classmates and teachers ended up being amazed at how much detail I was able to attain. I managed in order to depict different textures including the locks of his / her head, the clay courts on his experience, and the soluble fiber of his dress.

If it has not been for the Artwork Institute, I might of never came across the scratch mother board.




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