Introducing my most ambitious project to date. This one is a 16X20, which is huge for a scratchboard, which requires meticulous removal of ink mostly done with a scalpel. Zebras are notorious for a dispostion that lends them to being easily spooked with a strong instinct to panic and flee. One of the reasons why they are such poor candidates for domestication. Yet, that works well for them in the wild, as scientists believe a purpose for their bold stripes could be to prevent a predator from singling out an individual in the midst of a stampeding herd. I can attest myself there are several spots in this piece where I am not sure which animal the stripes actually belong too. It is quite likely these animals are fleeing from a crocidile lunging at them from just outside the picture plane, yet equally likely they are spooking at nothing at all. I hope the image captures the sense of chaos and fear and so I have titled it “Panic”.
And some closeups.
amystauffer.com 
