{"id":43419,"date":"2024-06-18T10:55:55","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T14:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=43419"},"modified":"2024-06-18T15:52:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T19:52:15","slug":"scratching-a-scratchboard-itch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2024\/06\/18\/scratching-a-scratchboard-itch\/","title":{"rendered":"Scratching a Scratchboard Itch"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

The recent closure of The University of the Arts<\/em><\/a> has set me careening down memory lane like a runaway train crashing into memories of my days at The Philadelphia College of Art. The Philadelphia College of Art <\/em>mutated into the Philadelphia Colleges<\/strong> of Art<\/em> when it merged with the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts,<\/em> and then it became The University of the Arts<\/em> in 1987 because a university sounded so much more prestigious than a mere college and the tuition could be hiked accordingly. And now the university or UArts<\/em> has closed its doors. Investigations as to why are underway although it sounds like the culprit is a combination of stupidity, negligence and financial chicanery. It made me wonder what my former teachers thought of the shocking collapse of the school. I did an internet search for the faculty that I figured are still with us<\/p>\r\n

Sadly, the teachers I sought are not active on blogs or social media. If I found anything it was mostly mentions of gallery exhibitions here and there featuring photos of familiar looking people puttering around studios. Generally, most all of the work I have found was abstract which isn’t my taste, but I did find one work that came as a startling surprise. Former PCA teacher Ruth Lozner<\/em><\/strong> wrote a book, and it was about illustration! Actual, commercial art illustration!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

For those of our readers who have wisely never set foot into an art classroom, here is the Wikipedia description:<\/p>\r\n

\r\n

Scratchboard<\/b>\u00a0or\u00a0scraperboard<\/b>\u00a0or\u00a0scratch art <\/b><\/sup>is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white or colored layer beneath. The technique uses sharp knives and tools for engraving into the scratchboard, which is usually cardboard covered in a thin layer of white\u00a0China clay\u00a0coated with black\u00a0India ink. Scratchboard can yield highly detailed, precise and evenly textured artwork. Works can be left black and white, or colored.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

Scratchboard for Illustration<\/em> was published by Watson-Guptill Publications in 1990 and I was struck by the cover. Was this Ruth Lozner’s work? I think I may have had her as an illustration teacher in my junior year, and while I don’t recall a lot of specifics as to the assignments, I remembered that the class was somewhat of a slog. Admittedly, I was not the greatest student. I always wondered when the class work was going to get interesting or when we would get a project we could really sink our teeth into. Essentially I was looking for something like the cover of this book. Where was this artist? This piece was done in scratchboard? Amazing! Why was Ruth holding back?<\/p>\r\n

Curiosity got the better of me so I ordered the book from a thrift seller on eBay. It cost less than $5.00 including the shipping. It was a bargain I couldn’t resist especially if the rest of the book was as good as the cover. What wisdom was Ruth going to impart in her writing that she didn’t in her classroom? I wondered if the local art supply store still sold scratchboard.<\/p>\r\n

Then the book arrived…\"\"<\/p>\r\n

…and so did the truth.<\/p>\r\n

That fantastic cartoon cat was not Ruth Lozner’s work — it was Bill Mayer who I am not familiar with, but is that guy good with a scratchboard!<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Ruth provided the back cover. Yes, this was the teacher I remembered.<\/p>\r\n

I flipped through the rest of the book, and it does look pretty good featuring lots of examples of scratchboard art some of which are by the author. I will have to read it from cover to cover and I will review it here some time down the road. There does look to be a pretty good technique section, and it’s always nice to see something that is not digital. It’s also about a now obscure technique that is worth preserving.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The recent closure of The University of the Arts has set me careening down memory lane like a runaway train crashing into memories of my days at The Philadelphia College of Art. The Philadelphia College of Art mutated into the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":43423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,4,104,700,318],"tags":[5843,158,17,8,390,3661,3669,137,5844,3202,3330,480],"class_list":["post-43419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-illustration","category-news","category-philadelphia","category-pixels-versus-pigment","category-technique","tag-5843","tag-analog","tag-cartoon","tag-cartoons","tag-cat","tag-illustration","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-college-of-art","tag-scratchboard","tag-uarts","tag-university-of-the-arts","tag-usa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/scratchboard-cover.jpg?fit=640%2C857&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-bij","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43336,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2024\/06\/02\/the-university-of-the-arts-is-no-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":43419,"position":0},"title":"The University of the Arts is NO MORE","author":"Joe","date":"June 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"We entered the month of June with the shocking news that the University of the Arts has lost its accreditation and will be closing its doors on June 7th. The announcement was made rather sloppily by the local news media much to the horror of the students attending the school\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PCApic.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PCApic.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PCApic.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43373,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2024\/06\/07\/doomsday-for-pca\/","url_meta":{"origin":43419,"position":1},"title":"Doomsday for PCA?","author":"Tina Garceau","date":"June 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Friday brought the sloppy and shocking announcement that the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA had lost its accreditation and would be closing. After a chaotic week of conflicting and sometimes contradictory announcements from various parties involved and as students and faculty wrestled with an uncertain future, it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PCAProtestSign.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PCAProtestSign.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PCAProtestSign.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20447,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2016\/03\/14\/above-broad-spruce-in-1983\/","url_meta":{"origin":43419,"position":2},"title":"Above Broad & Spruce in 1983","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"March 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a photograph I shot from what was once Anderson Hall on the Northwest corner of Broad and Spruce which once housed The Philadelphia College of Art. This is probably the 7th floor where the illustration majors were situated. It was an old office building and the windows could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blast from the Past"","block_context":{"text":"Blast from the Past","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/blast-from-the-past\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Above Broad & Spruce in 1983","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1453\/25136026644_78cdc4c9ce_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1453\/25136026644_78cdc4c9ce_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1453\/25136026644_78cdc4c9ce_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25086,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2019\/03\/07\/inflatable-vermin\/","url_meta":{"origin":43419,"position":3},"title":"Inflatable Vermin","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"March 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This inflatable vermin continues to make appearances at Broad and Spruce Streets outside of the Atlantic Building which once housed the classrooms of The Philadelphia College of Art. PCA has left the building and discarded the name a few decades ago. It is now known as The University of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Inflatable-Vermin.jpg?fit=640%2C472&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Inflatable-Vermin.jpg?fit=640%2C472&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Inflatable-Vermin.jpg?fit=640%2C472&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43503,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2024\/07\/05\/the-absolute-final-issue-of-duckwork\/","url_meta":{"origin":43419,"position":4},"title":"The Absolute Final Issue of DUCKWORK","author":"Joe","date":"July 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It may have taken 42 years, but the latest and, sadly, the last issue of DUCKWORK is out! DUCKWORK was a short-lived newspaper \"CREATED FOR THE PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF ART COMMUNITY\" back in the early 1980s. It lasted a handful of issues until the school pulled the plug on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blast from the Past"","block_context":{"text":"Blast from the Past","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/blast-from-the-past\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-The-Last-Duckwork.jpg?fit=800%2C269&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-The-Last-Duckwork.jpg?fit=800%2C269&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-The-Last-Duckwork.jpg?fit=800%2C269&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-The-Last-Duckwork.jpg?fit=800%2C269&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17527,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2014\/10\/21\/pca-the-class-of-68-motion-picture\/","url_meta":{"origin":43419,"position":5},"title":"PCA – The Class of ’68 – Motion Picture","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"October 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago, Tony Visco handed me a blast from our Alma mater\u2019s past \u2014 The Philadelphia College of Art\u2019s yearbook from 1968!This collection of film makers had special significance to me because I recognized one of the graduates immediately! It's Joe Dante! He directed the Gremlins movies, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blast from the Past"","block_context":{"text":"Blast from the Past","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/blast-from-the-past\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/motion-picture-list.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/motion-picture-list.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/motion-picture-list.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}