Teenagers!

by David Williams on May 10, 2013

The Real Glass Painting Podcast: Episode #2

You ever heard people say how the young can’t draw, the young can’t paint, the young can’t concentrate “like I could when I was their age …”?

Well, based on our experience in the studio here, that’s just not true.

Listen up, and Stephen will share some entertaining and instructive tales with you.

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The Beastly Lion of Wolsey Towers – Episode #3

by Stephen Byrne on April 27, 2013

The story so far …

So far in “The Beastly Lion” – first, the undercoat (see episode #1); and then, the preparations (see episode #2). And now …

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The Beastly Lion of Wolsey Towers – Episode #2

by Stephen Byrne on April 13, 2013

The story so far …

So far in “The Beastly Lion”, the glass – measuring some 430 mm across: not small – has been given a good undercoat and left to dry. (If you missed it, you can watch episode #1 right here.)

Now find out what happens next …

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Oil Vs. Propylene Glycol

by Stephen Byrne on April 7, 2013

As you know from Glass Painting Techniques & Secrets from an English Stained Glass Studio, once you’ve finished all the tracing, shading and highlighting you want to do with glass paint and water (and gum Arabic), then it’s often a good idea to carry on with glass paint mixed with oil (and no gum Arabic).

And then – you fire your glass just once.

OK, so the advantages of oil are … ?

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More about the Badger Blender

by David Williams on March 30, 2013

Care and Maintenance

This follows on from a recent post about the 5th benefit of undercoating, and also from “The Beastly Lion of Wolsey Towers” – episode #1, in which you saw how to undercoat a large piece of glass.

Today, cleaning your badger.

This is important because, dirty, your badger will wreck your matts and shadows.

Clean, it will serve you wonderfully for life.

So if your matts and shadows aren’t working, sure: it might be you’re being heavy-handed. All the same, your badger just might need a simple clean.

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The Beastly Lion of Wolsey Towers

by Stephen Byrne on March 24, 2013

Episode #1

OK, something new. A mini-series. Starts today. 12 episodes. Each video will reveal a glass painting technique-in-use. And step-by-step you’ll see the methods we used to paint and stain “The Beastly Lion of Wolsey Towers”.

Watch episode #1.

It’s here.

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The Badger Blender

by David Williams on March 17, 2013

How can you blend and shade well if you don’t hold this brush correctly?

The stained glass badger blender - not like this

Not like this …

This is the biggest thing people get wrong when they use a badger blender (the big flat one: not the small round one).

They hold it delicately.

They hold it as if it were a feather duster.

This a bad way to hold it, because your grip is weak. It lacks confidence. It is too gentle. This weak grip makes it harder for you to use the blender quickly and decisively. It makes it hard for you to control the speed and force with which you blend.

It also encourages you to blend from the wrist. Generally, you see, it is bad to blend from the wrist because you don’t want to swing across your glass paint in an arc (which is curved). 

Rather …

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Your Undercoat: the Fifth Benefit

by Stephen Byrne on March 4, 2013

There are many reasons you must always consider if your glass might benefit from an undercoat. Do you remember what these reasons are? And will it surprise you when I tell you how the undercoat also helps your viewers’ eyes. Therefore, unless you are painting only for yourself – which might sound luxurious, but actually a demanding client can improve your work no end – this is something you definitely must know.

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