Video Transcript
0:09 Hello. Today I'm going to show you a way of achieving a sgraffito effect, using acrylic colour and modelling paste. Sgraffito is a form of decoration made by scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting colour.
0:23 I've applied two acrylic colours to a canvas board. You can apply as many colours as you want, try using lighter colours as your base and then darker colours on top. When these base colours are dry, on a palette, mix a small amount of dark acrylic colour with enough Winsor & Newton professional modelling paste, to cover the surface of the canvas board.
0:46 Due to the high pigment load of the professional colour I'm using, you don't need to mix too much colour with the modelling paste to get a deep consistent colour. Now that's mixed, use that colour and modelling paste mix to lay a smooth coat of colour on top of the dry acrylic colour. The modelling paste has made the consistency even easier to spread smoothly.
1:06 Now while that's still wet, use the end and edges of a palette knife to scratch through the colour to reveal the lighter colours underneath. You'll see how, as well as revealing the different colours, some interesting textures are being created. These textures won't level, and all the crests and peaks will remain when it's dry. I'm illustrating with simple gestural marks, but you can experiment with all sorts of mark making techniques to achieve some dramatic results.
I hope you've enjoyed this video.