Paisley - Step 3 - Colorizing White Clayboard

I spent several agonizing hours last night trying to get this right. In this scratchboard engraving I wanted to lay down color first (before etching) with Ampersand ink and then engrave a design over it.  What I found, however, is that if you water down the ink, it pools on the surface and makes ugly blooms.  So I went over it with undiluted ink.  But the ink color is often too intense for my liking.  So then I tried watercolor, which performs better in some ways but is more difficult to scratch. Oy.

I guess this will be another practice piece.  Maybe it will come out OK in the end.  It's a mystery.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's progress.