Let me tell you that the key points are: have a plan (don’t usually invent things as you go along), hold your glass firmly with one hand, work from the bridge with the other, choose your highlighting tool with care (make your own as needed), be confident (not scratchy, unless scratchy is what you really want), consider stencils (especially if you have a repeating pattern), remember how the back of the glass is also good for stained glass highlights, and use your hands as needed (just be sure they’re clean).

Right, now I’ve said my piece, will you also have a look?

Your trace lines – your outlines, or contour lines – these lines can only be as good as your paint and tracing brush allow. So if your glass paint is badly mixed, or your tracing brush is wrongly shaped and loaded, your trace lines can’t be right. End of story.

That’s why today I want to show you the right and the wrong way to load your tracing brush. I just ask three minutes of your time, that’s all I’ll take, and in return you’ll see the difference.

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Kiln-Fired Glass Painting – Four More Techniques

January 1, 2012 Questions and answers

Stephen’s four reminders last time were: oil, flooding, holding firm on pricing, and being comfortable when you work. Now it’s my turn to look back on 2011 and also take you forward to the coming year. 1. Racing to trace vs. pacing your tracing First up, tracing – specifically, what you must do to trace [...]

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Kiln-Fired Glass Painting – Four Techniques

December 22, 2011 Questions and answers

The year is coming to an end. Your best skills are needed more than ever. That’s why it’s so important you look back and take account of all the things you’ve learned here these past 12 months. So this week and next, we’ll select a handful of techniques you must master absolutely. I’ll start right [...]

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Rushing and not Enjoying vs. Treasuring the Journey

December 18, 2011 Stained glass painting techniques

The design can “make” you rush A big problem you’ve maybe met is how, with the design in front of you, you want to rush and hurry and get it finished. And yet …

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More about Undercoats – You Barely Hold the Glass

December 12, 2011 Stained glass painting techniques

Right! In his last post, Stephen challenged you to do it with one hand tied behind your back. Undercoating, I mean. And several people wrote how maybe they were heavy-handed, because no matter how they tried, their glass always spun away across the light-box. So I reckon the best thing now is to show you [...]

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Undercoating – Are You Making It Too Much Like Hard Work?

December 5, 2011 Stained glass painting techniques

Here’s an important tip for when you paint an undercoat or “wash” or “matt” (or however you call it) …

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A Sobering Thought

November 25, 2011 Stained glass painting techniques

In my last post I gave you 9 tips for keeping a steady hand when tracing, or – “How to stop the wobbles“. The last tip was, not too much wine. (Well, actually, none at all is best. At least before.) Which reminds me how David’s been teetotal for 30 years. Not a single drop. [...]

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