Term: S'graffito

S'graffito is a painting technique where the artist scraps into a wet layer of paint to reveal what is underneath, which may be an underpainting or the support. Any object that will scratch a line through paint can be used for this purpose. For example, brush handles, painting knifes, fingernails or other hard objects are often used. This method is best suited for oils as the paint stays wet longer, but the same technique can be used with acrylics and watercolors.

S'graffito comes from the Italian but it is based on the Latin root for "scratch" (as in graphic and graffiti). This term is also used in pottery to describe cutting through a layer of applied slip to reveal the clay body below.