DAY 23: An Argument in the BE-lack Forest

Feeling those stretch marks on your brains today?  Me too!  Yesterday's challenge was kind of painful, no?  Well, we do have a lot of work left to do before the end of the challenge.  You've almost made it through, don't quit now!

The one week countdown is approaching fast.

There was an argument today in the Forest of Bullseye Blacks.

Turns out that 'Stiff Black' has been running amuck through the forest and has been causing frustrations for some of our participants.

When the spirit of 'Regular Black' heard about this, he confronted 'Stiff Black' and said,  'Why have you been so uncooperative with these new sgraffito artists who are trying SO hard to complete this challenge without frying their brains completely? 

'Stiff Black' just flopped there looking clumpy and pathetic.  He had no answer.


Regular Black pointed sharply at Stiff Black and shouted.

"I command you Stiff Black, to force yourself into the graceful lines of a sgraffito tree, or at least grow some antlers like ME!"


Stiff Black, who could not point sharply, stood up and said, 

"I have become a tree made of rumply, crumply, Elephant Bark!" 

 "Allow me to stay and frustrate those Challengers just one week longer!"

Regular Black didn't think that rumply, crumply Elephant Bark was going to be helpful to anyone trying to learn glass sgraffito drawing.

So, Regular Black put on his "A@$ Whooping" face, and quickly drew this pointy weapon with a business card.  

He stretched his wings and antlers, and flexed his tiny muscle. 

 "YOU, Stiff Black, shall return to your jar, and be hidden amongst the furthest reaches of the frit shelf FOREVER!!!".... or, at least until January 31, 2015.

Stiff Black shrunk down, grew a ratty tail, and retreated shamefully back to his jar, where he shall stay until the day when we need to use him for silkscreening or something... THE END.

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Because you all did so well pushing through that awful safety pin challenge you'll get some freedom in today's challenge.

 (AND, since I know that not all of you actually DID the safety pin challenge... you'd better get busy, or Regular Black will find you where you're hiding and you can explain it to him )

The Challenge for DAY 23:

Take a photo of something you collect, and create a glass powder sgraffito drawing of it.  And then link it to the page with the 'add your link' button down there.

I'm interested in knowing what those collected things are in your collections.

If you collect dust bunnies... drawing them would not be challenging yourself much.  lol

An InLinkz Link-up

DAY 22: Sharp and Shiny and a Reward Tiny

Today's Fused Glass Sgraffito Drawing Challenge will build on the skills you've been learning through your practice so far.  Now, let's sharpen how we see.

A safety pin is a fabulous subject for so many reasons... It's a simple object that everyone is familiar with, but still a difficult little bit of a thing though, isn't it?  That's what makes it a great challenge! Plus, if you get really frustrated you can open it and poke someone. 

Just kidding.

Here are some hints at how you can tackle this tiny shiny.

Really LOOK at the pin.  Study it and find the edges where dark and light meet.  Lines are essentially 'darks meeting lights'.  Finding those places, instead of just drawing a line in the shape of the pin will be important if you want to make the pin look shiny.

Pay careful attention to the negative space around and inside the safety pin.  Getting to know the shapes around the pin itself will help you get the shape of the actual pin right.

2. Your wide range of values (light, middle, dark) will determine whether your safety pin looks flat and dull, or sharp and shiny.  Find those edges where light and dark meet. They're not always where you think they are!

Don't forget to add your link!

An InLinkz Link-up

Here is a tiny reward... it's not a video (need more arms) but you can at least see a step by step progression. I did a similar piece as a class demo last weekend and then dropped my phone on it right before I was going to fire it.  That one went bye bye... 

This one is going to be much better.

I'll post more as it goes along.

*please don't copy these photos without asking permission, thanks!

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