Scratch Through Photos

This is yet another "scratch technique" among "How to Create your own Scratch Art" and "Scratch Through Paintings".  This technique requires having a photo print.  I know you could probably recreate this technique in Photoshop, but I thought it was still worth sharing.

To Create a "Scratch Through Photo" you'll need:

A photo print

a bowl of warm water

a nail or wooden stick (a nail worked best)

To create your scratch through photo, first place your photo in a bowl of warm water for about a minute or longer.

Then take the photo out and lay it on a paper towel to absorb the moisture.  Get your scratching tools ready. The nail worked best for us.

Now start scratching away. It leaves a yellowish or orangish mark.  I found the photos that worked the best were darker.  When we tried scratching on white areas it didn't seem to work.

I thought this technique was kind of fun and it would be a great way to bring some energy to an old print you might just be throwing away.

What Do You Think?

Scratch Through Paintings

We've done this painting activity before and it is always fun! Basically you are painting two layers of paint and scratching through one layer.  Keep reading to find out how we made our Scratch Through Paintings.

To create a Scratch Through Painting you need:

Acrylic or tempera paint

paint brushes

sticks

tagboard or cardboard

To begin, first figure out what color you want underneath and paint your cardboard that color. Let this dry. 

Then after the paint is dry,  paint a color over the first layer and be ready to work quickly! Do not let this layer dry until done drawing.

Make sure to cover the whole cardboard/tagboard. Keep paint wet....no drying!

Take a stick (we use a cut down wooden skewer stick) and quickly draw before the top layer of paint dries.

Keep drawing until you are done.  Now you can let your Scratch Through Painting dry! Here is one of C's Scratch Through Paintings.

Here is Mom's sun too. 

Be sure to check out our crayon and black paint Scratch Art in this post: 

How to Create Your Own Scratch Art

Stay tuned for more Scratch Art Ideas!

How to Create Your Own Scratch Art

My daughter came home the other day from school with one of those pre-made scratch art papers. If you don't know what I'm talking about you can check them out here at Amazon.com.  Usually the top layer is black and you scratch through other layers to create a drawing of your choice. I think they are really cool and the colors are brighter, but I wanted to show her that you could create your own with a few materials that most artsy craftsy people like me usually already have at home! Keep reading to find out how to create your own scratch art.

To create your own scratch art you'll need:

Thicker paper/tagboard/scrap matte board/scrap book paper (either one)

crayons (not washable kind)
neon crayons have fabulous results

paint brush

black tempera paint

dish liquid

scratch tool: sticks/skewer stick/ popsicle stick/old pencils

First, color fairly heavily with crayons on  a piece of white cardboard....I used scrap matte board. Color with many colors or just a few.

Then take some black tempera (or poster pant) mixed with a drop or two of dish liquid (to make it stick and scrape off better).

And paint it over your crayon  coloring. Let dry.

Then,  start scratching through to create your drawing or doodle or whatever you choose.

Here are some of our results: "Flower People", by C.

C holding grapes.

My flowers, hearts, and spirals.

The whole collection.

I don't know if I convinced my daughter that these DIY Scratch arts were better than the ready made kind,  but I wanted her to be aware of the process.  I do think she enjoyed the process!  Those commercial scratch art kits are really cool so I don't blame her.

What Do You Think?