“Sadhus of Badrinath”
R.S.Mani
reverse drawing on “Claybord Black”
This method of drawing is called “scratch-board” technique.
In the earlier days, a card board would be coated with black ink. By scratching on it, one could bring out the images.
In a normal drawing, we bring darkness to light on a white paper, to create an image. On a scratch-board we bring the light to darkness on the black surface. With this technique we can create powerful lighting effects.
Nowadays a product called Claybord is available. This is much more durable than the traditional scratch-board. You can read a short description of Claybord Black in the following Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claybord
I love to work on white Claybord for watercolors and acrylics. The result would be different from working on paper or canvas.
Using a photograph I took in Badrinath as reference, I made the attached drawing on a Claybord Black. This is one of my favourite art works.
— R.S.Mani
(Cambridge, Ontario, Canada)
