Day 27: Words of Wisdom and a New Inspiration

'I am the artist's model."  ~Albert Einstein

We are almost to the end of the 30 in 30 Challenge, only four more drawings to do... 

It's a little sad, isn't it?

Looking back at the photos of drawings you all did in the first week, I can hardly believe the difference in what you've been able to accomplish.  I hope you're seeing it too!

Today's challenge is going to feel impossible at first.

They all start out that way, but I have faith that you can do it!

The daily challenges leading up to this day have prepared you.  You're ready!

The challenge for Day 27 & 28  (I think you know what it is).....

Create a fused glass powder sgraffito drawing of our model, Albert.

(here is the space where I'll let you have that mini-panic attack and then catch your breath)

^)(#*&%_)@(*#_%()*_#*(&Y*(&^_(*@&!#^@&$%&*)(#*%&!+_)^*()!#&%&*#(^_@(*&^^

deep breaths, deep breaths

Here are some hints that will help you in your approach:

Begin your drawing upside-down.  Squint your eyes and look for the areas that are the darkest darks and the lightest lights.  Get the rough shapes of those areas in first.    Next, think about the tools you've created and the textures you've been able to make with them.

As you work, take photos of your portrait in progress.  This will help you figure out where problem areas are.  You will have two days to complete this project, so post an 'in progress' photo for today, and a photo of your completed piece for tomorrow.  

You have everything you need, use everything in your arsenal!

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm behind on my painting challenge... I'll have to bust them out at the last minute (as usual!)

Here is one for today.  Alcohol ink on Yupo.

Day 20, More Sgraffito Flowers!

Day 20: Sketching Glass Sgraffito Flowers...

You know, I didn't really think about all of us sketching flowers using black frit.  They are looking pretty darn black, aren't they? 

                                                                                                       

You all did some very nice work!  I love how many different kinds of flowers we all chose.  

So many artists use flowers in their work, and I've never known anyone to say they hate flowers and mean it...  They are a subject I always turn to when I'm missing summer.

I will keep things short today, because it's almost not today anymore :)

Here is a little blast of color to break up all this black and white!

Tomorrow, for Day 21 of the 30 in 30 Challenge 

We have another exciting day floral drawings! 

 This time, we're going to use ONLY black frit, and aim to get a wide range of values in your sketch.  Experiment with ways of applying the glass powder so that you can achieve areas that are very dark, very light, and 'some things in between'.  Here's a hint: The distance you hold your sifter, fingers, etc. from your glass makes a difference.  For lighter areas, try holding your hand higher, darker areas, work closer to the base glass.

"Poppy Fields and Blue Skies"  Alcohol ink painting, Kelly Crosser Alge

Post Your Black Flowers For Day 21 Here!

Link-up opens at 12:05 am EDT

An InLinkz Link-up

Day 16: WHITES WEEKEND!

Day 16 of the 30 in 30 Challenge, and we are over the hump!

Today is the beginning of a 3 day "Whites Weekend" Challenge!  

You have until Sunday night to create 3 sketches of an object that is white.

You can use the same object for all three sketches, choose a theme, make a triptych (3 panels that create one work of art) or just pick different, random 'white things' .

Portraying white objects in a sgraffito drawing presents a nifty little challenge in itself.
Those of you who did the Great White Shark sketch a few days ago know what I mean :)

Here is a hint:  If you focus on adding black powdered glass to the areas that are in shadow (the negative), the object (the positive) comes forward.  Then you can focus on the details.

It does make your brain hurt a little, but once you get it it keeps getting easier.

Try to stick with light colored glass and black powder for these sketches....

I'll tell you why tomorrow.

Here is a quick sketch of my baby shoe

Quick alcohol ink painting today... I love these colors

An InLinkz Link-up

Day 12: Artichokes and Real Life

Yesterday's challenge was to do a study sketch of a vegetable, thinking about it's texture.  I chose an artichoke for my subject partly because I have a lovely sheet of Bullseye's Artichoke glass, and partly because I like the intricate detail and texture of artichokes. Plus, they are healthy and yummy.... Besides that, when it comes to a challenge why not pick something totally ridiculous?  Today I haven't been able to spend the time to really study the artichoke as much as I would have liked to. Real life is happening in my house, and I'm predicting another school cancellation tomorrow...

I know that many of you have been strapped for time during this challenge.  It's OK!  I bet real life is happening in your houses too.   If you skip a day or many, or if you're just following along right now... you're not alone!  If you have just joined in, it's not too late...remember that this challenge is all about learning and camaraderie.  Any effort you make is worth it, even if you aren't proud of what you produce on a particular day.  We're all in this together...

I've done a lot less glass work this month than what I had planned to do; and instead I've developed a new relationship with my computer that I didn't plan.  I am blessed to have learned a lot just trying to keep up, and the time I've spent away from my own glass work has been worth it.  Seeing your work and to getting to know you a little bit has been more than I'd planned, and way more than I'd hoped for.
Onward we go....

   Tomorrow's challenge, for Day 12:  Create a glass powder sketch of something you use every day.  We often overlook the things we see and use each day, but they make really interesting subjects for art work.  It can be simple or complex, but make it personal.  I love getting to know you by the things you create.

My computer is being silly, so the link to post your photos won't open until tomorrow at 12:05 am.  Keep watch :)  Technical difficulties will always abscond with the best laid plans, won't they??

 My alcohol ink painting for Day 12 of Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

An InLinkz Link-up

Day 11: Seeing Beyond What You See...

'Pomegranate People' Glass powder sketch  4"x 4"

I'm really loving the artwork coming out of this group.  Yesterday's challenge was to create a sketch of a piece of fruit in some kind of a setting, or 'doing something'.  Let's just say we had some laughs and some of our minds have been in well... the compost heap.  Ha ha!

I chose to sketch a pomegranate yesterday, partly because I had one sitting on the counter, and partly because I love the intricate patterns of their perfectly packed pulpy seeds.  They're delicious!  Today's challenge was to use the same fruit and make it 'more'. That meant I really had to think about pomegranates.  The first time I had one was in 8th grade Latin class.  I thought they were weird, but the story about them was pretty cool.

Ancient Greeks believed the pomegranate to be the 'fruit of the dead'.

 Here's the story in a nutshell:  

Hades, the god of the underworld wanted to have Persephone for his wife.  So he kidnapped her and took her to rule with him in the underworld for eternity.  Demeter, Persephone's mother, was the goddess of the harvest.  She mourned in anguish at the kidnapping of her daughter, and refused to produce a harvest or allow any living plant to grow.  The big man, Zeus, decided that it would not be ok for the earth to die off just because Demeter missed her daughter.  So he ordered Hades to give her back to her mother...  There was a rule that if anyone should eat or drink while in the underworld, their fate would be sealed and they would remain in the underworld for eternity.  

Hades didn't want to return Persephone, and although she didn't eat or drink in the underworld,  Hades tricked her into eating a bit of a pomegranate before returning her to her mother.  Because of this, she was forced to spend half of the year in the underworld with Hades, and she was only allowed to be with her mother for the other half, and so on, for the rest of eternity.  The Greeks used this myth as an explanation for the change of seasons.  

My sketch today reflects on this story, each seed bitten sealed the doom of a soul.

Morbid, isn't it?  Sorry.  I can't turn off my brain.  I wish I could...

OK

For Day 11, your challenge is to sketch a vegetable.  Pay very careful attention to its texture.  Is it smooth? Bumpy?  Figure out a way to tell us as much about how that vegetable looks and feels as you can through your glass sgraffito sketch.  'See beyond what you see'!  With your new arsenal of tools, you may have just the thing you need to show off the texture, maybe not.  You might have to dig a little deeper to find just the right thing.  

This is getting more fun for me each day. :)

'Sunrise Ridge', alcohol ink painting for Day 11 of  the 30 in 30 Painting Challenge

An InLinkz Link-up

Day 9: Apples and Ideas

Your tool arsenals are looking mighty fine!  There are some truly awesome tools being made!  I hope you're all feeling challenged, out of your comfort zones, and maybe just a little frustrated.  It takes some time to get your brain 'thinking backwards', and of course, exercise hurts a little.  If you're frustrated, keep pushing yourself!  It will be worth it, you'll see.

The first day of the challenge, I shared that I did not want to paint apples when I was first learning to paint.  I thought they were too boring.  Good thing that for today's challenge, you can be as boring or as exciting as you'd like to be!  

Your challenge for Day 9:  Choose any fruit.  Using your homemade tools, business card, sifter, and /or fingers, create a sketch of a piece of fruit. No paintbrushes.... no paintbrushes....no

Wonky Wobbly Street 4x6

It helps to have the real thing to look at, and it's a great challenge to translate a 3-D object onto a 2-D surface.  If you don't have a piece of fruit, you can resort to using a photo. (but you won't learn as much and that's taking the 'safe route')  You probably should get yourself some fruit, because Hey! t's part of a healthy diet.

Tropicana Punch

Here are two sketches: one fruit, and a wonky wobbly city street, along with my alcohol ink entry for Day 9 of my other painting challenge.  I made the pear awhile ago, but I did use only the business card to make it.  No sifter!

Add Your Link

Day 7: Tool Time

Tool Time Starts Today! 

 I hope everyone has survived the 5 minutes x 5 sketches challenges.

You'll definitely have more than 30 sketches by the end of the month.  Sneaky! 

The discoveries you've made in those short minutes will serve you well~

Your posted work has been outstanding, and it's only been a week!

We are glass artists. We are tool crazy.

Tools are nice, and we want all of them. (don't we?) 

You've probably noticed that there aren't really any pre-made tools specifically for drawing with powdered glass.  That is a good thing, because it forces us to be resourceful and inventive when it comes to the tools we use to create imagery.  

 I recently watched one of NBC's Dateline Documentaries about the weaponry being fashioned in prisons by very creative and resourceful prisoners.  Knives made from Jolly Ranchers melted in foil left over from dinner. Filed down toothbrush handles and bed spring pieces become serious weapons.  We can stay on the outside and fashion some serious tools to play with in our glass adventures.

The Challenge for Day 7 (and Day 8)

Select well among old things, and make a tool.  It doesn't have to be changed from its original form, but it could be.  Perhaps you have something in your junk drawer that could be useful?  The only rule:  Your tool cannot be a paintbrush... NO PAINTBRUSHES!!!  
noooooooooo paintbruuuushhhess.......

Use your tool, along with the business card, fingers, and/or sifter to make your entries for Day 7 and Day 8

If you have a blog, tell us about your tool and post a photo of it along with your work!  I can hardly wait to see what you all come up with.  Here are my entries for Day 7,  A quick glass sketch and an alcohol ink painting for my other challenge :)

Testing another 'sunrise' piece.  I added color and it's in the kiln...

A Tulip-y Flower... go away winter!

An InLinkz Link-up

Day 4: Speedy Hands

I used to build wire harness parts for an auto parts manufacturer.  Each week, the company would drop off huge bins of unassembled parts and I would build them using a jig attached to my coffee table. The stacked bins reached all the way to the ceiling!  I hated building those dang harnesses but was thankful to have a job I could do in my apartment, since my husband needed our only car to get to his job each day.

When I was first learning how to put the parts together, I wasn't getting all of my wires to click into their bases equally, and sometimes I reversed the colors, and I took way too long to finish a single harness. I built a lot of rejects in the beginning.

Over time, I got better at building them and eventually I could whip them out fast enough to considerably beat the piece rate.  I built them without thinking about which piece went where, and they were almost always perfect.  I could do them with my eyes closed, standing on one foot with one hand tied behind my back, (that's a lie)...  

I felt like I did them in my sleep, and I watched way too much Jerry Springer and too many soap operas while building them; and that is true.

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Today's challenge will only take you 30 minutes, and not a minute more.

It's a 5 for 5 in the middle of the 30 in 30 that will take you 30.  Haha.

Your challenge is to create 5 sketches, each taking no more than 5 minutes.  We'll be using a single piece of glass, the business card and fingers again

 (be patient, tools are coming soon enough).  

SET YOUR TIMER FOR 5 MINUTES AND TRY HARD NOT TO CHEAT!

Once you have a sketch finished, snap a photo, dump your drawing, and quickly move on to the next one.  When you finish you should have nothing but 5 photos of the sketches you made.  (the extra 5 minutes is for photo snapping)

You can create any subject, any size you like, but make them each different.  Post your favorite photo to the blog when you finish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This exercise will force your mind and your hands to learn to work together, and it won't give the doubtful part of your brain a chance to over-think things. The goal is swift thinking, speedy hands, and no second guessing.  The best part is that when you make a reject, there's no physical reminder of it later.  Just dump it back in the jar.

Here is my 5 minute sketch, along with my daily alcohol ink painting for my other challenge.

I used Bullseye Black with a touch of aventurine blue.  After I took my photo I added some other powder colors that I'm testing and tossed it in the kiln.  I kept my sketch because I did about fifteen 3 minute sketches before I made this last one.  If you do that, you an keep as many as you like.  lol

Unfired 5 minute sketch using fingers and a business card. 4"x6".
 I used Bullseye black 0100 and some aventurine blue.

Begonia Blossoms, Alcohol ink painting for Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 Challenge

Add your Day 4 Photo Here

Day 3, Some Fabulous things are Happening Here!

Wow. I am SO impressed with the photos everyone has been posting, both here and on the FB page.  I have a feeling that by the end of the month I might  be out of a job!

It takes courage to boldly display your artwork amongst others' work that you think is better than yours.  KEEP IT COMING!  Try your best to 'lose the fear of being wrong' that is putting doubt in your mind.  Your work is good enough, and you'll start to care less about comparing yourself to others as the days of our challenge progress.

I'd like to share some work by participants who are really pushing that concept of being resourceful that we talked about yesterday, you girls rock!

Charlotte Kay does not have frit.  She is using Trader Joe's sipping Chocolate and a flour sifter.

Charlyn Moellers is traveling and has tried flour, sugar, and has settled on using baking soda.  Charlyn, you have discovered why Bullseye's stiff black doesn't work well for sgraffito.  It behaves like a mix between flour and corn starch :)

I used dirt one time when I was supposed to demo at a show and forgot to bring frit...  If you want to make art,  you'll make art with whatever you have available.

Kudos to these ladies!
Here are their photos:

Charlyn Moellers is using baking soda

Charlotte Kay is using Trader Joe's
Sipping Chocolate

Day 3 Glass sgraffito sketch, 4"x6", Unfired.

Here are my entries for today, one glass sketch, one alcohol ink painting, and one photo of the piece I fired from yesterday.  Tomorrow's challenge is to keep using only the card and fingers for a few more days!  This time, try a landscape.

Day 3 of 30 in 30 Challenge 'Yellow Rose', Alcohol Ink $20 bid

Day 2 Glass Sgraffito Sketch (fired)
I added BE 301 Pink, 0137 Fr. Vanilla frits

Add your link

Day 2: Trees with Fingers and Business Cards

It's true.  The beginning is usually the hardest, especially when you're doing something new.  Today is Day 2 of the first ever 'Fused Glass Sgraffito Drawing 30 in 30 Challenge", and I want to say thanks to all of the artists who signed up to participate!   Getting started is difficult.  I've asked you all to jump out of your comfort zones not only in the way you work with glass, but also in respect to all of the 'techie' stuff like setting up a blog and uploading photos.  Trust me, while it is uncomfortable and frustrating now will pay off in the end.

'Trees with Fingers and Business Cards' sounds like a B horror flick doesn't it?  Ha.  I like it.

Today's challenge is to use glass powder to draw a tree or two with only the use of your fingers and a business card.  Everyone wants to break out all of their tools and get down to action already,  but let me explain why I'm challenging you to start this way...

People with nothing are usually the most resourceful.  When you have nothing it forces you to develop ways to do the things you want, without having the 'tool' you'd really like to have to get the job done.  If you need to pound a nail and don't have a hammer, you might find something else that will do the job.  A big rock, perhaps?  A brick?  My point is that if you have the hammer already, you don't have to be very resourceful; you just pound the nail with it and that's the end of it.  When you are forced to be resourceful, your brain makes connections that it wouldn't make if you were just running to your toolbox to get 'the thing that you use to do a thing'.

Tree with Fingers and Business Card.
I added some frit and will post the fired piece tomorrow.

We'll talk more about that later, but for the next few days please do your best to make yourselves stick with the fingers and a business card.  Make it work for you.  I promise that it will be frustrating, but also that you'll understand once you've done it.

I promised some firing schedules today... I'm going to post the schedules I'm using based on my particular kiln as well as the size glass I'm using, but please keep in mind that you may need to adapt for your kiln / glass if there is a big difference in your situation.  These are programs I have been successful with, but may not be 'the standard'.  More on that in a week or so.





Here are my pieces for today.  One for the glass challenge, and one for my painting challenge.  My glass piece is in the kiln right now, and tomorrow I will post the fired piece.

Firing Schedule for the tree above:  It is 4"x6", and I added a layer of black behind it to make it 2 standard sheets thick with small bits of frit on top of the powder.  I'm using Bullseye Glass. (90 coe)  Firing in a tabletop kiln with a 10' shelf, single side element, no top element.

300 DPH

1000F

Hold 10 min.

AFAP

1460F

Hold 10 min.

AFAP

900

Hold 35 min. 

End Program

*AFAP= As Fast As Possible, enter 9999 on most kilns when you program.

Best to you all, and thank you again for participating.  See you here tomorrow, Nanoo Nanoo :)

Add your link here

Happy New Year Everyone!

We've made it to another year!  Happy 2015 to all~

I love the 'freshness' that a new year brings.  I get excited when the hustle of the holidays ends and a bright, shiny new beginning to a whole year of possibilities lies before me...  Here's a little story:

Two years ago (as a New Year's resolution) I accepted a challenge to paint 30 small paintings in 30 days.  The challenge was offered by artist Leslie Saeta, and I was pressured by my painter friends to give it a try.  Here is a little background info... I did not care about oil painting.   In college I painted what I would describe as a 'whopping total of two complete failures' using oil paints, and I never wanted to use them again.  As an art major,  I thought I should automatically be good at painting, but I'm telling you that I mean it when I say 'complete failure'.  Fast forward an undisclosed number of years...  I gave in and decided to give it my best shot, even though I knew I would hate it.

The first week was torture.  I,  (being me, of course) chose the most difficult things I could think of to paint.  A yellow fire hydrant on a violet background.  lights and buildings reflecting on wet pavement.   bicycles. backhoes and orange barrels buried under piles of snow.  Those things interested me.  Painting apples did not. Strike one. (apples are easy) Trying to paint the subjects I wanted to paint with this peanut buttery disaster of a medium made me mad.  Strike two. (I got mad).  After the first 4 paintings...Strike three. (I quit).  I was so frustrated!

A few days later I 'un-quit'.  I was determined to finish my 30 paintings even if every one of them sucked, because I wanted to be a better painter.  In all, it took me 45 days to finish my 30 paintings. The timing doesn't matter.  What does matter is this:  The things I learned in that short time by experimenting on my own and forcing myself to practice amounted to so much more than I ever expected; and the speed at which I improved could not be matched by taking a painting class.

This year, I've invited glass friends to join me in a similar challenge.  We'll be working to complete 30 fused glass powder sgraffito sketches in 30 days.  Many do not have experience using glass powders, but have accepted the challenge feet-first.  I know they will improve by leaps and bounds over the next 30 days!  Surprisingly, there are currently 376 glass fanatics from 9 countries who have accepted the challenge as I write this.  It is going to be so cool to see everyone's work, and if we all complete the challenge, we will have created almost 11,000 works of art in just 30 days!

You can follow our progress each day here on my blog, and check out the artists' web pages and blogs by clicking on the photos they will be uploading each day.  Of course I'm doing the glass challenge, but I am also participating in the painting challenge once again, with alcohol ink paintings (call me crazy and maybe I'll break out the oils).

January 1, 2015 Challenge is to create a sketch using only glass powder and your fingers.  They're your best tools!

Glass Sgraffito Sketch Day One, fingers only!

Sunny Morning Aspens, Alcohol Ink Painting,  5x7
Start bid: $20

Artists: Upload your Day 1 sketches by clicking the 'add your link' button at the bottom left.  Choose a photo from your blog, Facebook, or instagram page, or upload one from your computer.  If you have trouble locating the image URL, try using CTRL+click on the image, then choose 'copy image address'.  This should give you the image URL. If you have problems, check the Facebook page for the Fused Glass Powder Sgraffito Drawing 30 in 30 Challenge.  Happy New Year!

An InLinkz Link-up

Mixing Media…I Can't Help It.

Tree Study in Alcohol Ink

Purchase this painting at auction, starts at $15

My college advisor told me that if my art was ever going to be taken seriously I needed to settle down and pick one medium to work in.  He said 'concentrate on one thing, so that you may master it'.  In many ways he was right.  The problem is that I LIKE to work in so many different media.  While it was very good advice given by someone I respected, I am still at odds when I look back.I think it's important, especially for children to realize that artists don't just sit down and whip out masterpieces.  Even the old masters.  

In sixth grade my school had a program called 'Mini Art'.  A random mom would come in with plastic covered prints of a master's works, and tell us about the artist, their work, and their (normally sad) lives.  In my 11 year old mind I thought my desire to be an artist was out of reach, because I couldn't make a masterpiece at all. My hands were never able to create what my brain imagined, no matter how much time I spent or how hard I tried.The part they left out of the 'Mini Art' program and my art education in general, is that no artist gets anywhere without regular, concentrated practice.  Artists screw up every time they work.  That's how art is.  It's a series of practicing adjustments, and keeping the best ones.  As an adult artist I wish someone had told me this when I was very young.

My piece for the day is a sketch in alcohol ink.  It is an attempt to quickly study and work out the kinks before I have to make decisions about creating it in glass, which is my media of choice on most days.  I work in any media I can get my hands on to figure these things out. My college didn't offer glass in it's program, and my advisor has since passed away.  I wish I could tell him that I found the perfect media to claim as my love, but I need the other ones in order to make it work..