Cardboard coated with chalk forms a smooth, glossy surface and is used as a ground for drawing or painting in ink. Parts of the image may then be scratched off with a pointed tool to create a variety of effects.

A picture created by cutting through a dark, usually black, surface to expose a colored layer underneath

Scratchboard or scraperboard is a technique where drawings are scratched into ink painted over a thin layer of white clay which has been laid over posterboard or another stiff paper. These boards are also called scratchboard or scraperboard after the technique. Rarely, scratchboards are made with several layers of multi-colored clay, so the pressure exerted on the instrument used determines the color that is revealed.