Monday, June 15, 2009

Early art and a prize winner

P-40031
I was fascinated by scratchboard, a unique illustration board which had a special surface that could be worked on with a special tool after a drawing was inked. Scratchboard is still available today at artist supply stores.

ScratcHouse033
Another drawing done on scratchboard.

SplitBrushDrwg034
One of my brushes split and I did this drawing with it.

36-1 FirstPrize 1946
This cartoon won first prize in the 1946 national Scholastic art competition. The drawing was done in ink using a brush. The tones when added with a litho pencil.

2 comments:

Vince A said...

Harry, these are already very good drawings. It's amazing how very quickly you improved from the 'Battle of the Planets' to this level of skill.

One thing I've always been curious. Why don't artists use ballpoint pens as drawing tools? Not for serious work, but for sketching.

Harry Borgman said...

Hi Vince,
Thanks for your comments. I had a very tough art teacher in high school. She used to give me really low grades on my report cards claiming that I wasn't working up to my potential. She once worked in a NY art studio and I learned a great deal from from her.
I've used ballpoint pens for certain drawings like cartoons. One of my favorite drawing tools is the technical pen, especially for outdoor sketching. They are available in various line weights.
Harry