SUMMER NOCTURNE -- THE SHOWER; 12" X 16" (SOLD by Blue Moon Gallery in Grayslake, IL) Scroll down for more of Leslie's scratchboard art....
Artist Name: Leslie Scott
Town: Gurnee, IL
Medium: Scratchboard
Inspiration: Constantly changing weather and the Midwest’s four seasons
Full-time artist, Leslie Scott, has enjoyed working in all mediums: oil, acrylic, colored pencil, pen & ink, and even dabbling occasionally in computer-based art. It wasn’t until a dozen years ago that he developed an interest in scratchboard after looking at illustrations in a children’s book.
What is scratchboard? It is a hard Masonite, clay-coated board that is sprayed over with black India ink. Using a pencil, the subject is drawn on the surface from tracing paper smeared with chalk. Then it’s scratched on using an Xacto knife revealing a white image. To add color to the drawing, he uses Ampersand colored inks.
Leslie adds that scratchboard has an ancestry that dates back hundreds of years to scratching art first onto animal bones and then onto rocks and boulders. The medium is somewhat related to etching and woodcuts.
What does he like best about scratchboard? “I love the detail I can add,” he explains. “I take my time and don’t rush. Some artists might find adding details tedious, but for me it is relaxing. After all, what’s the hurry?”
Growing up the vicinity of Evanston, IL Leslie hadn’t intended to be an artist although he took art courses in high school. His interest in art bloomed later while in his sophomore year at Idaho State University. After graduation, he headed for Washington D.C. and worked in various graphic departments while attending graduate school of Fine Arts at Howard University. In his third year, he decided to pursue art full time by going to Detroit to work on the Chevrolet account as an intern. Later returning to Chicago, he held various jobs both in the Cook and Lake County areas doing art-related positions.
Presently, Leslie is a member of the Lake County Art League, Artists on the Bluff, the Chicago Alliance of Visual Artists, and is represented by the Blue Moon Art Gallery in Grayslake, IL. He’s also a member of The International Society of Scratch Artists.
Learn more here: Leslie Scott Fine Art (wwwlesliescott.com)
HAPPY LANDING
READY
OUTDOOR OVERTURE
AUTUMN NOCTURNE
PEBBLES TO ROCKS
DIALOG -- on view at Leslie's website.
Artist, Leslie Scott