Today in specialized stores you can find a lot of different sets for children's creativity: developing, educational, just entertaining. Such toy products attract the attention of children, but it is much more interesting to create something similar with parents, thereby learning all the secrets of the creative process.
And in fact, many children creative kits do not represent anything complicated that could not be reproduced independently at home. For example, engravings familiar to many can be made with your own hands in just about half an hour. How? Let's find out.
For creating color engraving will need:
- white cardboard (not glossy);
- wax pencils different colors(you can also use oil pastels);
- black gouache (you can take another dark color);
- liquid soap;
- tassel;
- orange stick (or other thin and sharp object for engraving).
Step 1. Create a colored base-background
Most of the prints that are sold in stores are made with a single color background (golden or silver), and it will be more interesting for children to see the picture in different colors. To do this, we paint one side of the white matte cardboard in random order with multi-colored wax crayons- the more saturated and contrasting the colors, the more effective they will look when engraved. Note: instead of wax pencils, you can use ordinary or felt-tip pens, but they will need to be additionally sketched on top with a paraffin candle, and only then proceed to the next step. 
Step 2. Making an intermediate layer of engraving
To make a kind of "protective" invisible layer that will not allow you to erase the colored background when engraving, you will need liquid soap. It must be evenly applied to the background mosaic. Note: "rubbing" the soap into the pastel should be more careful, because the color can be "smeared", that is, transferred to a piece of paper of a different color. 
Step 3. Apply the finishing layer for scratching
After the soap has soaked into the colored background of the cardboard, it is necessary to paint it tightly with thick black gouache. Even if in some places the paint will diverge from the wax, it is necessary to repeat painting until the background stops showing through. You can paint over both the entire sheet and part of it. 
We are waiting for the gouache to dry, and our engraving is ready. (although it would be more correct to say scratching, which is only one of the varieties of engraving). Now you can pick up a thin pointed object (for example, an orange stick, a knitting needle, an empty pen rod, etc.) and start scratching a new masterpiece. 
Method one
It is very simple and light, called "scratch".
You'll need:
- A thick needle (awl), for convenience, it can be screwed to a wooden stick;
- Glossy or plain paper;
- Oil paints.
On paper (we took glossy), apply a drawing with a needle. You can take a drawing from your head or use a ready-made one, for example, made in the open air. Scratch in different places it is possible with different pressure (try not to tear the paper).
Then we take the paint already squeezed onto the palette and roll the drawing with it. It is necessary to rub the paint carefully, especially it is necessary to try in scratched places - so that the paint gets there.
Here is the result:
But that is not all. Then we take a brush and again apply paint to our picture - not on the whole drawing, but in some places - thereby adding new colors to the image. Then we wipe again, and after finished work can be pasted on paper bigger size- We get a passport.
Method two
You'll need:
- Thick needle (awl), for convenience, it can be screwed to a wooden stick
- Cardboard
- Oil paints
- Press
To do this, you need to cover the cardboard in advance with transparent glue (the simplest, for example, stationery) and a film forms on it.
On the cardboard, you scratch a drawing of some kind. Assuming that what you are scratching will be dark lines afterwards. The lines can be simple, or they can be complex, textured (some kind of winding scratches).
If you show an illustration, like this one, with a motorcycle, made by Mark Summers, even in the circle of illustrators, almost no one will recognize the technique. Some will confidently say that it is drawn on a computer, they personally know the magic filter that will draw everything by itself. Some will say that it is all hand-drawn in black ink, imitating old engravings. And the most adult part, who still spent their youth with manual rather than digital tools, condescendingly pats everyone on the virtual shoulder: puppies, this is a woodcut, I recognize it.
And they are all wrong :)
At first glance, it really looks like a woodcut. Where white is selected, where black drawing is left. Firstly, it is laborious to imitate this with ink, and secondly, it will still turn out badly, you need to draw with ink, as ink is supposed to - in black and white. These drawings are made in a technique similar to engraving.
Wood engraving, indeed the oldest and classical technique book illustration. I have a story about illustration techniques in the 19th century. In short, an end cut of a tree was taken so that the fibers were perpendicular to the drawing surface, polished, covered with whitewash, an illustration drawing was applied on top and the engraver cut out the drawing. Everything that should have been black remained the surface of the wood, everything that was white deepened. If you had to make a thin black line, you had to remove the tree on both sides of it. If you have ever cut a linocut or stamp, you have a rough idea of this technique.
A wooden piece became a printing stamp - paint was applied to it and printed on sheets future book. This is how Tenniel's illustrations for Alice were made. And here comes interesting thing. There are no "originals" for Alice. Tenniel came to the workshop to the engraver and drew on a piece of wood. The engraver then cut out everything superfluous so that a black drawing remained. Got it? Engraver.
The engraver determined exactly how the line would pass, how the shadow was determined, how elegantly or roughly the detail would be cut.
Nowadays, the closest profession to this is inker, a person who draws ink on a drawing for a comic book. Not all artists draw comics from start to finish on their own. Usually the artist draws a detailed pencil sketch and gives it to the inker. Inker circles everything with ink. He decides how to make a black spot, where to put a semitone, with what pressure the line near the eye will be. If you ever went to a wood burning circle in a pioneer camp, you can imagine the scatter of results. If ten pioneers are given a drawing of a touching Bambi, carbon paper, a piece of plywood, and a burner, they will all burn (trace) the final drawing in different ways. Disney may not recognize his four-legged.
Therefore, what we see in the books with Alice is how the hand of the pioneer-burner engraver went. Maybe all these faces of an adult lady, with heavy painted eyes - just the engraver's choice?
In case you're wondering, this obscure hero's name was Thomas Dalziel, and he was from a family of very popular Victorian era engravers, even drawing illustrations himself. So he couldn't completely spoil the illustrations with a wooden stroke. But this does not negate the fact that there are no paper, drawn originals for Alice. In the Oxford Museum, the originals are stored wooden blocks with a carved pattern, from which the first edition was printed. (More precisely, the second. The first came out rough and dirty, the process required alterations and refinements, only the second satisfied Tenniel, and the first was sold in the second-rate market - in America.
Wood engraving gave a distinct black and white drawing(which metal engravings did not give) and these qualities, of course, still attract aesthetically. But cutting wood is difficult and requires skill. It seems stupid to give engravers your illustrations, it’s difficult to cut it yourself - and main question- For what? In the pre-computer era, it is clear why - technically the drawing was printed from this board. Now, when everything is printed from digital forms, it would be necessary to print from wood onto paper, scan the paper - and transfer the drawing to print. And cut just to make a print?
Today, no one cuts wood for illustrations. The same effect can be achieved in a technique called scratchboard. It is 100% handmade, the process is basically the same as in wood engraving, but the "engraving board" is also a print, the final work.
See? The white lines are cut through, the black remains untouched as a background, looks exactly like a woodcut.
In fact, this is a specially prepared cardboard ("scratching board" in translation). A thick sheet of paper is covered with white clay, a substance with a chalky surface, and a thin layer of black paint, such as ink or ink, is applied over the white layer. The artist draws a design on a black surface, takes a sharp tool - usually one of the X-Acto knives - and scratches the surface like an engraver. With the tip of a knife it is easy to draw lines of any width, like a pen, to remove everything black, where it should be white, to hatch parallel and cross and completely create the appearance of a wood engraving.
At the same time, if you made a mistake somewhere, you can cover this area with ink and engrave the failed place again.
Now let's see what a typical drawing process looks like. Kent Barton is one of the preeminent American illustrators of this technique. Of course. in this technique, they order works with a historical flair or a touch of antiquity. So he received an order for an illustration about gunfighters.
First, the mass is collected reference material. Separate details and scenes are drawn on the tracing paper:
The most detailed drawing, in which all tone ratios are applied, is approved by the customer, if necessary, new options are drawn and glued. After that, the drawing is transferred to the scratchboard. Kent works on a black and a white scratchboard. Why? Not always convenient White background completely brush out of the black scrapboard.
Therefore, it works in local black. On the right - a drawing prepared for work, the figure in it is filled with ink. On the right is an already "engraved" drawing on what used to be a black spot too.
He does not have a knife in his hand, but a special scraper with a wooden handle and two points:
Part by part, he moves forward on the sheet. In order not to lubricate the drawing with black “shavings”, a napkin is placed under the arm, while the “engraved” dust from the drawing is brushed off from time to time.
Here's a bigger one. On a black scratchboard, the black color is usually even and deep, here you can see how Kent painted it himself. anyway, in the end it will be a drawing with linear hatching.
And this is his work:
Larger jacket:
For such hatching, a steady hand is needed no worse than that of ancient engravers.
Here you can see what different types strokes are applied. on the face in shape, with the expansion and contraction of the line to create the desired tone, on the hat with separate white dots, against the background of a disorderly cross-hatching.
Well, isn't he handsome?
Technique comes out especially well in this technique (unexpected pun)
And here is a direct imitation of an old illustration from some catalog or brochure.
Now let's look at another great artist working in this technique - Mark Summers (Mark Summers). This is his motorcycle at the beginning of the post, I hope I impressed you with its thoroughness.
Quick sketch for illustration.
The second stage is a more detailed drawing with color. Some illustrators color their "engravings". Mark is just one of those who loves colored drawings. Therefore, he draws a detailed sketch with a marker on tracing paper, sticks this tracing paper entirely on a colored sheet of the desired shade and passes over it with white in bright places. She herself calls this sketch technique "Byzantine", referring to its strange complexity :)
It works just on a black scratchboard. He transfers the drawing to it and engraves figure after figure. It takes him at least three days to complete each character.
If the work was supposed to be in color, he scans his finished scratchboard, prints it on photo paper, paints fine details with watercolors, then fills large planes with glazing oil paint. So, unlike Tenniel, he has two originals coming out at once :)
It is clear that for such a technique you need to draw brilliantly in the first place. And it’s very good to understand chiaroscuro - you have to dial the tones in the opposite way to regular pattern- the more you stroke in one place - the lighter it becomes.
Here is another tinted Hatter. It is a pity that in the days of Carroll there were no scratchboards :)
And another commercial illustrator: Michael Halbert
Olive Tree:
And detail:
Mark Twain:
And his right hand:
I don't know who, in a hat:
And a detail. Michael specifically imitates the most classic form of woodcut.
And a bigger detail:
And finally: Halloween witch
And her face is big:
Now you are experts in this rare technique :)
_____
On LiveJournal, I have other posts in the "illustrator techniques" series, I won't give a link here.
At what age can children be introduced to engraving?
Engraving quite accessible even for small children, it is recommended to start acquaintance from 3 years old. At this age, the baby already has some drawing skills, as well as the first artistic representations. At this age, it is recommended to create an engraving only in collaboration with an adult who can reveal to the child all the charm of this type of art, show how to create images correctly.
In general, the engraving is interesting and more older children, And adults. This is due to the fact that the pattern can be different in size and complexity. If ready-made kits are purchased, it is important to pay attention to the manufacturer's recommended age indicated on the package.
To create an engraving you can use 2 methods. The first is preparing the foundation yourself. To do this, you need to pick up a thick sheet of paper, or better - cardboard, because it is more convenient to work with it. For work, you will also need watercolors, gouache, wax pencils, a candle, a stick (shtichel), brushes and a water container. The base is painted over watercolor paints. You can only take one color. But drawings are much more interesting if the base is colored. Stripes can be drawn arbitrarily. After the base has dried, it must be rubbed well with a candle. It is important not to apply too thick a layer, but also not to leave gaps. Next, you need to paint over the wax layer with black gouache. Sometimes you need to apply several layers of paint, it is better to take not too liquid gouache. Only after all the layers have dried, you can proceed to the actual creation of the engraving. With a stick with a pointed end or a special engraver, you need to start scratching the dark layer so that the color is visible. Wax pencils can be used to paint the base. Then applying a wax layer with a candle is not necessary.
Certainly, this method preparing the foundation is quite time consuming. It is suitable for a baby with the principle of creating similar images. The child can freely scratch the base. And it doesn’t matter if a beautiful image doesn’t work the first time.
If you want to create a real masterpiece yourself, then you should pay attention to a ready-made set for engraving. It includes the base and the engraver. The contours of the future color image are usually already applied to the base on a dark layer. Making an engraving using this set is quite simple - you just need to diligently and carefully scratch the top layer along the indicated lines. You can do this together with your child, scratching in turn or at the same time in different places of the base.
Finished works look very interesting and may well become an interior decoration. They can be framed, large ones can be hung on the wall, and small ones can be placed on a desk.
To get acquainted with the “engraving” style and gain the first experience, you can use the creative kit, which is called “Engraving”. These kits can be bought in stores with art departments as well as online stores. Models for works are offered of varying complexity, there are simple small pictures, but there are also quite complex and subtle paintings. The recommended age of the engraver is indicated on the package. At the same time, such an activity can captivate both a schoolboy and a completely adult person. In the picture presented for example, the age of 3 years is indicated. But the children in younger age Must work under adult supervision.
2 step
The engraving blank looks like a dense sheet of metallized paper coated with a tinted layer, on which the contours of the future drawing are applied. Metallized paper comes in different colors: silver, gold or rainbow (iridescent colors).
3 step
The set also includes a tool for performing work - a chisel. With this tool, notches are made on the upper dark layer, through which the metallized layer appears as a result. The chisel is similar to a pen, only it has a metal shaft. For safety, a cap is put on the tip when the engraver is not being used. If the work is done by children, then it is necessary to control the handling of the engraver so that there are no injuries.
4 step
To make an engraving, all the drawn strokes should be applied, removing the tinted layer in these places. The chisel can make thin cuts or wider cuts, depending on which side you turn it. Such work requires perseverance and accuracy.
