Kirt’s Tiger
by Myrna Galloway

Emerging from shadow with piercing intensity, Kirt’s Tiger embodies raw strength and primal presence. The black-and-white scratchboard medium heightens the drama—each stroke carving light out of darkness, each detail bringing the predator closer. The tiger’s gaze is unflinching, its movement deliberate, capturing the balance of elegance and danger found in the wild. This piece is less a portrait of an animal than an encounter, a moment where power steps forward from obscurity.
 
Scratchboard as a Medium

Scratchboard is one of the most precise and unforgiving art forms. Each piece begins as a board layered with white clay, sealed beneath a coating of black India ink. Instead of adding pigment, the image is revealed by carefully removing the ink surface with razor blades and fine tools, exposing the white beneath.
 
Every stroke is permanent—there is no erasing, no painting over, no second attempt. This means the process requires complete control and foresight, with a true zero margin of error. Shadows, highlights, and textures are built line by line, stroke by stroke, often numbering in the thousands. The result is an image sculpted out of light, where fur, feathers, or intricate details emerge from the darkest surface.
 
The work is intensely time-consuming. A single piece may take weeks or months, as layers of precision cuts gradually form gradients, depth, and atmosphere. Scratchboard demands not only technical mastery but patience, discipline, and endurance. It is a medium that balances exacting control with the risk of permanence, producing artworks defined by their striking contrast and extraordinary detail.
 
 
 
11″ x 14″ (Vertical)
16″ x 20″ (Vertical)
18″ x 24″ (Vertical)
Canvas width, in
10.98
15.98
17.99
Canvas height, in
14.00
20.00
24.00
Canvas depth, in
1.25
1.25
1.25
Frame depth, in
1.75
1.75
1.75