Failed Scratchboard #5

This is winter: gray, vertical tree trunks, salty roads, piles of dirty snow, people dressed in black.

6" x 6" masonite panel painted with acrylic and worked with patience.

Failed Scratchboard #1

I tried making my own scratchboards, painting masonite with plaster-loaded gesso, then with gel medium darkened with india ink. The result was an impenetrable surface. And so "gougeboard" was invented. Being a good sport, not one to let failure deter, I commenced to gouge, scrape, smear, rub and generally work the surface until I'd had enough. The result are seven confused-looking abstract panels, children of these dark winter days.

This is a 6" x 6" sheet of masonite, painted with acrylic. It is number one in a series of seven.