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Richard Cayou is a Colorado native and self taught artist, who enjoys the state for all that it has to offer.
His interest in art started approximately 18 years ago, but he has been interested in photography for 40+ years. After 14 years of cutting steel artwork, he transitioned into framed art, through the use of scratchboard. Scratchboard is a form of direct engraving. Using a prepared 3 layer board, consisting of a 1/8” Masonite board, covered with a layer of white Kaolin clay, then a thin layer of black India ink. The Artist scratches through the black ink with an exacto blade, scalpel, sewing needle, or any sharp tool to reveal the white clay underneath making a black and white image. Different textures are created with a variety of lines and dots. Then if he wants the image to have color in it, he applies light washes of diluted, colored ink with a brush, lets it dry and then he can scratch it again and add more ink to build the layers of color and add highlights and dimension. After scratching and coloring are finished, it is sprayed with 3 to 5 coats of a UV, archival spray protectent.
He has been doing scratchboard since 2011, and enjoys this media for the amount of detail and realism that it allows him to incorporate. He uses his own photos for reference in his scratchart.
He is a Signature member of the International Society of Scratchboard Artists.