Crayon Etching - DIY Scratch Art

You might remember this particular activity from your childhood. Black scratch cards at one point were super popular, up there with 'paint by numbers' and 'paint with water' colouring books and I honestly don't understand why they are so hard to find nowadays. I know they are technically for children, but I find this repetitive colouring/scratching activity very relaxing.

They are easy to make and can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Good quality, vibrant crayons (if you can get neon or fluorescent crayons- they are even better)

Thick white paper or cardstock

To create the black layer you will need: black crayon, black pastel or black acrylic paint

Scratching tools- metal, bamboo, plastic tools capable of etching (cuticle pusher, metal skewer, bamboo skewer, pin, needle etc)

Varnish to seal the design - optional

Before you start it's a good idea to choose what to use to create the black coating. I tested different paints and crayons before I came up with the best option. Black pastel worked, but created a lot of mess, black crayon semi-worked, there were patches of colour coming through and the colour wasn't uniform.

Latex paint was completely useless, washable children's paints and very cheap black paint didn't even stay in place, it just slid off the crayons and good quality acrylic paint worked too well and refused to be scratched.

Medium-range acrylic paint worked the best. It was thick and opaque enough to cover the design, but still scratch-able.

Acrylic paint has to be mixed with hand soap. One tablespoon of paint + half a teaspoon of liquid hand soap.

1. Not all crayons are vibrant, so test and choose your colours beforehand.
2. Cover the paper with your chosen design- splotches, thin lines, thick lines, diagonal or horizontal... however you like.
3. If you want some parts of the design to remain white, you can't just leave it blank, you have to use a white crayon.
4. Try not to leave any spaces between different colours, even if you overlap two colours slightly, it's still better than leaving a sliver of space. If you leave a sliver of space and then cover the paper with black paint, that sliver will become permanently black and you won't be able to scratch it off.

If you have access to high coverage black crayon of pastel, use that to create the black layer.

If not, use black (or some other dark colour) acrylic paint mixed with liquid hand soap ->> 1TBS paint + 1/2 TSP soap ratio.

Two layers of paint should be enough.

Prepare your scratch tools and cover your work area with newspapers to keep everything clean.

You can use a pencil to draw your design directly onto the black layer or free-hand it.

If you make a mistake, change your mind or scratch too hard, you can always fix the project with paint. Keep a small container of paint and soap mix nearby and apply it to with a tiny brush where needed.

Last step is pretty self-explanatory, just scratch your desired design onto the card and watch as the the colour underneath reveals itself.

Once finished, you can seal it with a varnish if you want to.