Scratchboard

This was my scratchboard that I did of a puppet.  

Artists Create Original Art

How did you use your own unique ideas in your work?

I came up with the idea for having a puppet on strings on a stage, with some sort of backdrop, in my work.  I decided on making the puppet look more realistic, simply without a face.  I also came up with the design for the backdrop, with the hills and pathway.
Did you use a source for inspiration, then combine it with your own ideas to make it original?
I took pictures of my little brother standing in various positions to mimic a puppet hanging, and finally decided on one that looked closest to what I wanted to have.  I then found pictures of marionettes online and used them as reference for how they looked.  I used various sources for the marionette handles and the type of texture they would be, which I decided to end up portraying wood.

 Artists Develop Art Making Skills
Did you learn new techniques or processes as part of the work for this project?
I had never used a scratchboard before, so this entire project was brand new to me.  I had to become familiar with scratching into the surface with a blade.  It didn't turn out very well, but hopefully if I tried again it would turn out better now that I have a better feel of how to use scratchboards.
Did you gain skill with familiar materials?
I had to draw a rough draft of the drawing, which was done with pencil and paper, materials I'm used to.  I learned how to better portray textures using just pencil.

Artists Solve Problems
How did you respond to challenges that occurred as you worked? 
As I was working, there were many times at which I was unsure what to do or if something would turn out alright, especially since there was no going back if any mistakes were made on the scratchboard.  I usually tried out ideas on a small scrap of scratchboard to develop ways to portray and draw/scratch things.  
Did your work take an unexpected turn due to a mistake or did something happen that was unplanned?
Quite a few times I scratched away a bit too much and/or made something too light.  Since there was no going back, I usually tried to make it seem like it was meant to be that way, although most of my mistakes did end up being glaringly obvious.  I also accidentally scratched in the wrong direction in one area, making the whole area seem off.  I tried to cover up most of mistakes with the rest of my work for the most part, but it was hard to really get things right once I had made an error.