By way of saying “thank you” for all your helpful comments on our last post, we’ve made you a new, exclusive video demonstration.
Stained glass tracing: here’s how to think about it in a very different, useful way …
From the category archives:
Stained glass painting techniques
Today a selection of topics. Two of them are provocative (me and my big mouth). So let’s start where the seas are calm.
Use the power of stained glass silhouettes
Today you’ll see the power of stained glass silhouettes.
Yes, this is our glass you’ll see here.
But remember this is not so much about us as about what you can do with a bold and talented design, some very good glass, plus a careful use of silhouettes.
Note: there are a lot of gorgeous photos coming up, so please give this page the time it needs to load. [click to continue…]
In the studio this week, we’re painting column after column for the tycoon’s stained glass skylights.
Our sequence is:
- Undercoat
- Trace
- Strengthen
- Flood
- Highlight
- Etc. etc.
In other words, the lines are put down in two layers – steps 2 and 3 – not in one go.
A column from the tycoon's skylights - undercoat and (copy-)traced only (strengthening comes next)
Now it isn’t mandatory to do this. It’s certainly possible to do the lines just in one go. Sometimes that’s what you must do.
And right now I just want to have a brief discussion with you about how to think about this question: whether to trace (with the glass on top of the design) and then strengthen (with the design on one side), or whether to trace and strengthen in one go …
Your round-up of the week’s live posts
In case you missed them, here are links to the six technique-packed posts we published here last week.
It all began last Saturday when our long-haul students flew in.Where did they come from and what exactly were they here to do? Find out here.
On Monday we published a useful tip on how to prepare perfect glass paint. Hint: start small and work your way up.
Tuesday saw David’s celebrity endorsement of a simple kitchen object which “has the power” to help you manage your palette better. True, you cannot paint with bone-dry paint. On the other hand, many palettes resemble a re-make of The Poseidon Adventure. This mystery object can help you change all that.
Hollywood confessions have nothing on Wednesday’s true-life revelation: a shocking tale of a mis-spent apprenticeship. This tip is still as relevant to glass painters today as it was to me way back in the closing years of the last century.Dear reader, read it here and weep. You may still learn from my dreadful example and save yourself a vast amount of money …
On Thursday, David disclosed the vast – and vastly beneficial – changes you can make to a “finished” piece in just three minutes. It’s amazing you don’t learn this kind of thing in most colleges or glass painting classes. Just imagine – there are still people “out there” who don’t know what you will know about when you read this quick post on the simple (and perfectly legal) joys of oil.
On Friday, I gave you a useful tip on how to hide unwanted trace-lines. I also waited till Friday to share it with our students. You see, if I’d told them it on Monday, they wouldn’t have understood its value. Are you ready for it, I wonder? You can find out here.
Now the week is over, our students’ heads are buzzing, and I know how excited they all are at the thought of getting back to their own studios and workshops. They learned so many things. More than that, they also said goodbye to a whole lot of bad habits – we saw to that with a demonstration every morning and every afternoon.
"Daddy - summer's here!"
That’s what you get from watching closely: you lose bad habits, you learn new skills.
No one can learn everything from books or on their own. You need to watch. We all do. I watch David. He watches me. We all learn like that. Every single day. So if you haven’t seen them, these two movies show you things about glass painting you won’t discover unless you make the time to watch. And thereby learn.
I’ll say “goodbye” to you for now. The sun is shining and my daughter’s calling!
Best,
Tracing – how to hide the evidence …
"Just make sure the tycoon's beasts don't see me ..."
This morning – the last one of the week – it was Gothic Revival / medieval faces like the lovely lady on your left.
After lunch – by way of contrast – gargoyles and other monsters.
(I hope Customs don’t decide to open up our long-haul students’ suitcases!)
And with all this detailed line-work, the following conversation was inevitable.
Be sure to read to the climax of this tale, because you’ll find a really useful tip …
Problem #1: “When your glass is on top of your design – as it is with tracing – it’s so difficult to judge the darkness of your lines. – And it’s also really difficult to register them precisely with the lines on the design beneath …”
Oil: the case against … and the case for
"Me? I'd rather be seen dead than go out without my oil" said the tycoon's fifth beast
It’s the fourth day of this intensive technique-focused glass painting course for our five long-haul students – four colleagues from different states of the USA, and one from Kuwait. (For the 90-second video intro, please see here.)
Yesterday and today: oil.
The case against oil: it’s smelly, and it’s messy. You need extra palettes and extra brushes. Students need to learn how, once the oil has seeped down and been absorbed by the unfired water-based paint beneath, the paint itself becomes fragile. And another thing: it’s a good idea to adjust the firing schedule so the volatile fumes can burn off and escape.
All in all it’s rather inconvenient. Hmmmm – no wonder it isn’t taught in college or class. Too much nuisance.
So, the case for oil is what, I wonder …
If I’d known this when I first started painting glass, I would have saved myself a whole load of heart-ache, time and also – money …
"Known what? Known what? Tell me or ..." said the tycoon's fourth beast (because he'd flunked his "Anger Management" 101)
You may already know that excellent maxim of Francois de La Rochefoucauld – “Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example” – well, the truth is now I’m just too mean to set a bad example.
That’s why today our five long-haul students benefited from a particular piece of hard-won wisdom which I am delighted to share with you.
So, to start: what’s the difference between this …
