Unconventional drawing technique

Modern art and crafts offer a lot of very interesting and unusual techniques, including technique, when pictures are painted by scratching on wax. This technique is called drawing graft, or waxing. The result of this work is similar to engraving.

Grattajt - what is it?

What is the technique of drawing gratta? The literal translation of this term is "scratching" (which comes from the French verb gratter, in translation "scratch"). Gattatage is essentially a kind of engraving. True, opinions of different artists differ on this score. If you take as an engraving any image obtained by applying strokes without the presence of paint, then the gritty is a typical engraving. As, however, and any drawing in pencil.

If, however, only that which is applied to a special hard surface (such as wood or metal) is taken for engraving, drawing in the technique of gritty is a kind of imitation of an engraving made on cardboard or very dense paper. The drawings in this technique are performed with a slightly sharp object (such as a pen, a special cutter, a sharpened stick) on a surface prepared for the picture.

Stages of creating a masterpiece in the technique of grafting. Step One - How to choose the basis of engraving

To create a masterpiece in such an interesting technique, you first need to prepare a cardboard or a sheet of thick paper (you can put it). Next, the artist has several options.

Option one - leave the paper just white.

The second option is to make this base colored, in an arbitrary creative order, applying watercolor to it.

Option three - properly paint the cardboard with usual wax crayons. You can use one color, and you can sketch the colored stripes (you need a fairly thick layer), leaving no empty spots.

Option four - as a basis you can take color cardboard.

Option five - to prepare the cardboard already with the finished drawing on it. For example, a piece of a box of sweets or a cover of a notebook, which allows you to try grafting at home, having a minimum of materials at hand.

Step two - applying wax

After preparing the base, it is necessary to apply wax on it. You can also do this in various ways.

Option one - rub the base of the wax candle.

Option two - rub the candle on a grater in a container and put it in a water bath. After the wax melts, apply the wax on the prepared cardboard with a small brush.

Variant the third - to light a tea candle (it is a small candle-tablet) and to type wax on a brush directly from a candle, transferring it to a cardboard.

If you previously applied a wax crayon to the base , you should skip the step with the wax. True, if the application of the chalk was uneven to you, this can be corrected just at this stage. Try to improve the situation a little with a solvent (for example, take turpentine).

It is due to the use of such materials that grafting is perfectly suitable for children's development. But professional masters instead of wax apply chalk, special clay, egg yolk. But these materials are still for those who have long known what is the technique of drawing gratta, in the kindergarten the use of such foundations is inexpedient.

Step Three - color

At this stage, it is required to paint the applied wax layer. And here there may be options. You can do this with the help of an ordinary carcass. Probably, in the course of work it will roll down on the surface of the wax, then you will have to show patience and apply several layers. There is also an option to apply mascara with a cotton swab or sponge.

Another option for painting the surface is using gouache. The paint can be absolutely any color, and also it can be stained. True, this method is good only when the artist has a clear idea of the final result. This kind of engraving will be less durable, and in the process of working gouache smears and spoils everything around.

Both mascara and gouache should be slightly diluted with a soap solution (or a solution with shampoo) so that the paint does not roll off a rather greasy waxy surface.

And finally, the third option - the technique of drawing gratta implies the use of acrylic paint. True, here too there are subtleties - as a rule, acrylic stiffens with a film, and, possibly, scratches with small irregularities, just as polyethylene is scratched. With such a coating you need to be extremely cautious. By the way, the working surface and the floor around the table is better covered, otherwise all surfaces will be covered with fine carcass-wax.

Step Four - the magic of the appearance of the engraving

At this stage, this magic begins. Here any slightly pointed object, for example, a spoke, a nail, a toothpick, a disposable fork (which is perfect for drawing waves on the sea), etc. is required. By the way, the most simple option - a ballpoint pen, which stopped writing. And we begin to create! Of course, professional artists, for whom the drawing technique is not a novelty, use special cutters (cutters), but amateurs and beginners will have enough and listed improvised tools. You will scratch the top coat of paint, and in the scratches will appear white (or colored, if the base was previously painted over) space. Naturally, you can scratch not only dots, dashes or stripes, you can also shoot, if required, entire sections of the paint layer, drawing, for example, the petals of flowers.

By the way, there is also a variant of the reverse engineering of grafting - scratching of dark cardboard, which is covered with light paint on top.

Useful advice for beginners

If the gouache (or ink) is rolled off the previous layer, treated with wax crayons or pencils, then you can first degrease the substrate with talc (just sprinkle on top and wipe with a cotton disc).

To the gouache did not stain your hands when scratching the pattern, before applying it, add a little PVA to the paint and mix well. Or, when drawing, place a piece of blank paper under the arm that rests on the sheet.

And if you want to find out what an unconventional drawing technique is, and try to transfer to your sheet any picture from an album, book, magazine, know that it's very easy to do. Translate the picture first onto the tracing paper, and then from the tracing paper, slightly pushing, apply a light contour of your drawing on the sheet prepared in advance for the graph. And only after that, it should be scratched.