Vise 11: Dark-eyed Junco. Scratchboard, 7 x 5 in, 2007. Private Collection.
I just made delivery on “Vise 11″ above. A friend of mine, Rod http://rodmansvisuals.tripod.com/, injured himself recently and, seeing as he’d sent me a most excellent scratchboard “get well card” after my surgery a few months ago, I thought I would repay the favour with a get well card for him. He’s been working on a series of vises (you know, the metal things meant for clamping) and so I thought I’d combine one of my vices - birds - with one of his vises.
I took the reference photos at my parents farm and it occurred to me that as farms grow larger while farmers become fewer in number, wildlife is moving back into the spaces once occupied by people. Old buildings have taken on a second life sheltering birds and all sorts of small mammals: mice, squirrels, racoons.
Considering the displacment North American animals experienced when settlers first moved into the prairies, I guess the reversal is only fair. But I can’t help but feel something when I realise that the distance between my parent’s farm and their nearest neighbour has more than doubled since I was a child.
WIP: Tonka: Labrador/Rottweiler cross. Pen and ink on Claybord Smooth, 7 x 5 in, 2007.
After much fussing with the pencil sketch and a false start, I’ve started on my newest commission: a Labrador Retriever/Rottweiler cross named “Tonka.” He’s the beloved pet of a friend of the client, who’ll give it to the owner as a birthday present.
My false start was with the ears; usually dogs hold their ears in this position when they’re feeling anxious. One dog behaviourist, Suzanne Clothier (author of Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationship with Dogs http://www.flyingdogpress.com/bonesexcerpt.html ) calls this “airplane ears.” I did try a different position for the ears, but felt it ruined Tonka’s expression, so back they went.
Two Horses: Easy and Jake. Scratchboard with acrylic ink, 10 x 8 in, 2007. Private Collection.
I just made delivery on this commission and it’s my longest (timewise) commission to date. Technically, it’s a pet portrait, but I didn’t want to merely create a visual reproduction of the two. I wanted to say something about their relationship: Easy, the Appaloosa, is blind and Jack, the Paint, sees himself as Easy’s protector. It’s impossible for a stranger to approach the two of them without Jack placing himself in the middle of things and forcing the “intruder” to submit to an inspection. It’s a touching friendship and I’m pleased to have captured it in the work. But more importantly, the owner is very pleased with the final result. And with a commission, that is perhaps the best barometer of success.
Grizzly. Scratchboard with acrylic ink, 12 x 9 in, 2007. $380.00 framed.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what draws me to scratchboard as a medium - I mean why scratchboard? Why not just draw or paint? My usual answer is that I love how scratchboard combines the best parts of drawing with the best parts of engraving. And from a purely technical standpoint, I think that’s true, but there’s something else, something about how the image emerges from the darkness as I work on it that appeals to me.
A lot of artists call themselves “painters of light” or say that their true subject isn’t the landscape or whatever, it’s how light is affected as it strikes the subject. And cliché as that sounds, I think it’s particularly true of scratchboard. Think of it - with most other media you start with a white ground and create form by putting in the shadows, but with scratchboard you’re creating form by carving out the highlights. I think it’s a beautiful process.
Elizabeth. Scratchboard, 8 x 10 in, 2007. Private Collection.
My name is Tania Nault and I’m a scratchboard artist. This blog will be a glimpse into my work as a wildlife artist, and to what I’m thinking about while I work.
You might now be asking yourself, “So, if she’s a wildlife artist, what’s with the picture of the woman?” That’s my late grandmother, Elizabeth Padar; this journal is dedicated to her. I spent a lot of time drawing on scrap papers and the insides of old cereal boxes at her kitchen table - she always believed in me and I miss her terribly.
I have an online portfolio, it’s here: www.tanianault.ca and I invite you to take a peek.
Talk to you again soon.
