Ampersand Art Supply Scratchbord Scratch Knife

Scratchbord is the professional scratchboard surface trusted by award-winning illustrators, wildlife artists, and realism artists worldwide. Built on Ampersand’s premium Hardbord protected with Archiva-Seal and coated with an ultra-smooth kaolin clay ground and rich black India ink, it delivers unmatched precision for subtractive drawing, engraving-style illustration, sgraffito, and high-contrast artwork. Scratch through the black surface to reveal the white clay beneath, creating detail and tonal depth impossible to achieve on canvas, black canvas boards, black painting panels, or painted black wood panels. Unlike traditional art canvases or generic black art boards, Scratchbord is engineered specifically for scratchboard drawing and produces clean, controlled marks for hyper-realistic fur, feathers, portraiture, and black-and-white realism. Built on a rigid, warp-resistant Hardbord core, it stays perfectly flat—never tearing, bending, buckling, or wrinkling like paper scratchboards or thin craft scratch surfaces. The clay-and-ink coating allows repeated mark-making, fine rescratching, and controlled shading using scratch knives, scalpels, tattoo needles, Slice craft knives, wire brushes, fiber brushes, and oil-free steel wool (tools sold separately). Artists can also incorporate ink, airbrush, collage, and mixed media, making Scratchbord a more versatile option than standard black canvases or MDF art boards. For vibrant color work, transparent Scratchbord/Claybord Inks (sold separately) add rich, vivid tones that remain luminous on the white clay. Highlights can be rescratched for contrast, and unwanted marks can be repaired using black India ink or Ampersand Black Repair Ink—giving artists full creative control without fear of mistakes. When artwork is complete, simply seal the panel with a spray varnish and frame it without glass. Ampersand Floaterframes and Duoframes offer a clean, glare-free, gallery-style presentation that showcases every etched detail. Scratchbord reflects over 30 years of Ampersand’s dedication to museum-quality painting and drawing surfaces. Whether you’re a professional scratchboard artist or searching for a premium black drawing surface, black scratchboard panel, black art board, or black engraving panel, Scratchbord offers the most responsive, archival, and detail-focused surface available today. Handcrafted in the USA using FSC-certified materials. For beginners exploring scratchboard art, Ampersand also offers Scratchbord Kits that include a Scratchbord panel, tool, pattern, and instructions (sold separately)

• SET OF 2 KNIVES: Each handle comes with 2 nibs, one point and one curved and one handle
• IDEAL TOOL FOR SCRATCHBOARD BEGINNERS: Use to create thin or wide parallel lines
• SCUMBLE & STIPPLE: Use short, random strokes for large areas of indistinct texture, such as foliage, gravel and dirt
• ADD DEPTH & TEXTURE TO YOUR ART: Tools are available individually or in a 5-piece set and are ideal for any clayboard or scratchboard surface
• EASY TO USE FOR DIY DESIGN: Create curved strokes for convincing hair texture and cross-hatch strokes for grassy effects