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