Scratchboard Illustrations by Michael Halbert

Using mostly black and white to create his pieces, American artist Michael Halbert produces incredibly detailed scratchboard illustrations with an engraved woodcut look.

“For simplicity, I call myself a scratchboard illustrator, but a more accurate name for what I do would be ‘pen and ink on scratchboard.’ That’s because I don’t start with a solid black board like most scratchboard artist. I use white scratchboard and draw on it with pen and ink to build up all detail and values that are roughly less than 50 percent in tone. For areas that will have a tone darker than 50 percent, I fill in solid black with India ink and use a blade to scratch in white lines to add detail and to lighten the value.

I have specialized in scratchboard for about twenty five years now and have worked for a countless list of clients on a variety of assignments. I have done work in editorial, advertising, branding, packaging, and more. Packaging and branding is what I work on most these days.”

— Michael Halbert

More scratchboard art Visit his website