Scratchboard is a unique art medium which produces pictures of amazing realism, incredible detail, or fascinating contrast. It is "The art of taking away" as you start with a black surface and scratch off to show the white underneath.

Because the lines used can be very fine - one of the tools Eliza uses is a pin set in a wooden holder, another is a surgical scalpel - a piece of Scratchboard art can be made of many hundreds of thousands of lines, and take many, many hours to complete. After scratching Eliza paints the picture using inks that have been specially designed for Scratchboard. The result is a dramatic, highly realistic portrait of your beloved pet.

The surface used in these pet portraits, and in all of Eliza's scratchboard, is a product called "Ampersand". Ampersand starts off with a wooden base, not thin cardboard like some other makes of scratchboard. The firm base gives some wonderful benifits. Not only is it considered Museum quality, it is amazingly easy to frame! It can be framed either with or without glass, depending on your personal preference, and does not need a backing board as it is hardboard already! You can, if you wish, just buy a ready made frame and slip it in!

To find out more about scratchboard and see some demonstrations by Eliza and other artists visit the "

Scratchboard - Art" site.