Scraping away the lino ink

The scraping stage: I'll concentrate on the owl first ....
I use a tool that you buy to scrape away scraperboard (or scratch board). It's better if it's not too sharp, or you can tear the paper, so use a tool that is quite worn down.

Covering up the owl!

The scary (and messy) bit - covering the entire thing with black Lino ink! Even the light areas need covering, but I need to be able to see what I'm doing, so I won't use much ink here.
It's important not to allow the ink to dry as it will make the scraping less fluid- so I have to start the next stage straight away. . . .

Owl Painting step 2 - colour

Step 2 - oil pastel. It's important not to leave any gaps (as this will leave a black mark when it comes to scraping). The blue I've used here is ultramarine, unusual for me as I'm more drawn to Prussian blue - however, it won't make much difference in this case as I intend the background to be very dark. The owl is mostly white and yellow-grey. I usually use Pentel oil pastels, as they are firmer than a more expensive pastel (eg Sennelier) and hold onto the colour better once scraped.

Example of working method - oil pastel and lino ink painting

This is a step-by-step guide to creating a painting using oil pastel and lino ink and a scraper tool.

Long, thin owl painting- 'Tyto' - stage one: having already done some preliminary sketches I draw out the owl, keeping it quite basic; there's no point in getting too detailed here, as I'm going to completely cover it up. Also once I start scraping away I don't want to see too much pencil work showing through.

Me and 'Affinity '

 I painted 'Affinity ' last year and documented the making of it on my Facebook Vikki Yeates illustration page. 

I'll do this again with my next painting. 

Hare Dream design

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The painting that I made into a transfer, then ironed onto the cushion cover.
I kept the design for this very simple, like a celtic stone carving. But once I'd finished I felt a bit unfulfilled and so I've taken it as a springboard to another more detailed painting, which I'll show at a later date.

Hare Dream cushions

I came up with the idea for these cushions when I painted my friend's dog Nenagh; she loves snuggling up on the sofa! Usually my animals are surrounded by plants and nature (http://vikkiyeates.daportfolio.com ), so I wasn't sure how to tackle this at first; but then I came up with the idea of designing my own William Morris inspired artwork to put onto the cushions, effectively bringing the outside inside! I really enjoyed the intricacy of the cushion designs so wanted to take the idea a stage further - hence 'Hare Dream' evolved.
Unfortunately I only have an A4 printer and they would look much better if I could make the print bigger. Or get smaller cushions maybe?