Jan 1 2015 30 in 30 days sgraffito challenge - day one - draw with your fingers

I've joined an internet challenge to draw a powder drawing each day during January.  I misremembered the recommended size of glass so have tiny 5x10cm pieces of glass rather than 8x10cm...so I'll end up with lots of thin drawings.  It doesn't matter what size glass we use as long as the drawings are done each day, and we also don't have to use glass- a whiteboard and some sand would do to get the principles.

First drawing is based on a photo my sister sent me of two people walking along a beach in the twilight.

First challenge was to draw just with our fingers.  Tricky topic on such a small piece of glass using fingers and no small pointed sticks or brushes, but a good introduction to the activity.  I'm going to keep each days work rather than just drawing and then tipping the powder back in the jar.  I've set up the kiln to put each one in as finished, though I expect I'll do more than just these drawings during January.

Start by sifting black glass powder on a small sheet of opal white glass- wearing a mask to avoid breathing in the powder.

Draw into the powder with fingers to get an image.  

The glass is raised on small plastic cups (I pocket them after trying out teas in the local Whittards). This means it is easy to pick the glass up without disturbing the powder when the image is finished.  The cups are set on a sheet of paper so that the spare powder can be tipped back into the jar

I put the finished drawing into the kiln.  I'll tack fuse them (just enough heat to make the glass stick in place) and decide what to do with the images when I've finished them all.