As I’ve pointed out in several previous posts, scratchboard, despite its close relationship to pen and ink, is a medium with its own distinct characteristics, and to my eye a particular visual charm.
There’s just something about a well done scratchboard drawing, the patterns of white lines against black, that grabs my attention and lends itself to extended enjoyment. The beautiful scratchboard illustrations of Ricardo Martinez are a case in point.
Born in Chile, Martinez moved to Spain with his family as a young teenager, established himself there as an illustrator and cartoonist and later moved to the U.S. where he worked for newspapers and did editorial illustration in Miami. He eventually moved back to Madrid, where he became part of the group that created the newspaper “El Mundo”.
Martinez’ editorial clients include Coca Cola, Madrid City Hall, Telefonica, UNICEF, Amnesty International, and Renault.
Martinez doesn’t appear to have a dedicated website or blog, instead relying on showing his work through the site of his artists’ representative, Richard Solomon, as well as a portfolio on the Behance Network. The latter is divided into a selection of his editorial illustrations and a set of his wonderfully eccentric animal illustrations.
There is a brief overview of Martinez’ process on the Richard Solomon site featuring the Steve Jobs portrait shown above.
