Sharpies

There was some talk on one of the email groups about how not to use Sparpies to draw images on clay before glazing because unlike pencil, the Sharpies don't burn out. That caught my eye. I would love to be able to do something with a Sharpie. I recently bought this set of Sharpies so I got to some serious playing.



I really liked how this came out and all of them took quite a while to complete, so I went ahead and put a clear varnish over this particular bead. I put a clear glaze on another one and it will go into the kiln to be fired. We'll find out soon enough if Sharpies burn out. It may be that some colors will make it through, or fade a bit, and others will disappear altogether.



After playing with the Sharpies, I realized that my Bead Contest only has a month left. I want to give away very nice beads, not just some that I have laying around, and not bisque beads with Sharpie type ink covered with a clear varnish. This is a promotional contest to hopefully grab a few new eyes to look at my art beads, as well as to generate an email list for when I hold a sale (which is usually about once a year), AND to figure out what I'm doing that people seem particularly drawn toward.

After only two weeks the clear winners in my store are the Hand Painted beads. So I sat down with some 20 mm beads and some under-glazes and some teeny tiny brushes and these are what I have so far. These have not yet had a clear gloss glaze applied and fired. Hopefully this weekend I will have enough to put into the kiln. I figured that about another 25 will load up the kiln.

I think I will take photos and let the winner choose the beads. Each one sells for $8 and so I will let him or her choose their favorite 7. So I best get busy and finish painting so I can take photos.