Someone might wonder:

“Ceramic paints are cheaper than stained glass paints. They also come in many different colours.

So is it possible to paint stained glass with ceramic paints, rather than the proprietary ones?”

This is such a useful question because it has an interesting range of answers.

Money and Value

If we were asked this question by someone who had never designed or painted stained glass before, we would immediately start a conversation about money and value.

Are stained glass paints expensive in themselves, or, rather, are they expensive when used wastefully or lazily?

For example, it would be wasteful to prepare a teaspoonful of paint at a time rather than a good-sized lump; and it would be lazy if someone couldn’t be bothered to learn best practice because it would interfere with their self-expression.

When you’re painting stained glass – if the resultant window is beautiful and well-made – what are a few pounds or dollars that you spend on best glass paint?

Surely they a trifle.

When a window can last a hundred years or more, and be seen by many thousands of people whose emotions will all be wonderfully affected by the play of colour and light, then this small amount of money is not an issue.

Required by the Design

With another kind of person, we might immediately strike up a conversation about design.

Our own position is that we design first, and then we figure out how to paint it second.

True, this has often caused us months of experimentation and heartache.

But – and this is important for us, although we understand completely it may be less important or even unimportant for other people – we have continued to create a wide range of stained glass windows, whose only unity is maybe formed by the attention we put into their indivdual designs.

That is, we don’t have a house style.

So for us, the question therefore is: what kind of design might only be realized with the use of specifically ceramic paints?

Maybe one day we’ll prepare such a design, but we haven’t done so yet.

Science

Another series of points are mildly scientific.

"I put up with a lot more than a silly old piece of pottery!"

First there the different firing temperatures e.g. whether ceramic paint will fuse with glass at the lower temperature that glass requires.

Second there is the compatability that such fusion (if successful) still requires in order for firing stress to be removed as the glass cools down and anneals: would ceramic paint in fact leave hidden stress that will risk the future of the glass?

Third there are the different conditions to which stained glass windows and ceramic objects are respectively subjected and which their painted surfaces must respectively withstand e.g. weather, daily handling etc.: is ceramic paint proved to be fit for such events as windows regularly experience?

In other words, the use of ceramic paint is now largely a question of someone’s attitude to risk (because stained glass studios just don’t have the resources to test such questions for themselves).

Range of Colours

As for the different colours possessed by ceramic pigment, it is needlessly competitive to insist on a count.

Suffice it to say that there is also a wide range of inter-mixable colours possessed by stained glass paint.

But when, outside of restoration, do you absolutely need them?

Remember also that, within stained glass, it is frequently the glass which owns the colour. Thus it is the paint’s function is to stop or mute the transmitted light.

This is completely unlike the function of the paint which adorns the surface of ceramic objects, where it is the paint’s function to bounce back a specific colour to the onlooker’s eyes.

How many colours do you really need in your stained glass paint? Is the variety of ceramic colour merely a distraction at best, a complete irrelevance at worst?

Paint vs. Silver Stain

Neither glass paint nor ceramic pigment behave anything like silver stain of course.

This is because silver stain changes the molecular structure of the glass, causing it to filtrate yellow light instead of white.

Silver stain is a joy to use. Yet it can also be a challenge.

The delightful mysteries of silver stain

See this green man: all the painting in the first firing, all the staining in the second firing.

Yes, we could have done it all (painting and staining) in just one firing – and that is another point we shall discuss with you.

That’s all coming soon in a special publication.

Conclusion

Thus, a really useful question, the nuances of whose different answers are a joy to consider.

Both stained glass paint and ceramic pigment require firing in order to be incorporated with the top surface of glass and pottery respectively. And indeed some of their ingredients are shared.

But maybe this presents the outer limit of their agreement.

So, by all means experiment for yourself, yet always bear the previous points in mind.

And what, we wonder, have you experimented with?

As always, please share your insights and experiences with other visitors here.

Tom Ansell wrote and asked us whether we’d used lead-free glass paints.

We hadn’t.

So we decided to give them a try.

And here’s what we discovered.

We used Reusche’s Series 5 tracing black (E401) and bistre brown (E402).

Now series 5 is flagged as lead and cadmium free, which is all good and fine. But we would remind you that, whilst using these paints, you must still be aware of the danger of inhaling dust.

When preparing our lump, we used exactly the same procedure as we always do. The only difference was that we prepared about half our usual quantity.

The first thing we noticed was the incredible creaminess of the paint.

So smooth and creamy ...

We imagine it was a bit like wearing a satin shirt when you’re used to good hard-wearing cotton … (Not that we’d know.)

Just mixed, it was a little tricky to get to flow smoothly. But that’s also what we’d expect of our paint that isn’t lead-free. So we covered it up and left it overnight.

And here’s where we discovered something really interesting.

Next morning, the lump hadn’t dried up as much as we’d expected it to.

Surprisingly usable the morning after ...

This wasn’t down to how we’d sealed and covered it: we did the same as we always do.

Nor was it down to the temperature in the studio: we compared it with some ordinary tracing paint that we’d also been using the day before.

So we suspect it’s connected with the size of grain, which may also explain the extraordinary creaminess of the paint.

Now why is this an interesting discovery?

Leave aside that the paint is lead and cadmium free – the slow-drying property of this paint might be particularly useful to glass painters who work in hotter climates than we have here in overcast and cloud-bound England.

Why?

Because, even uncovered and in use, the lump remained creamier for longer, and overall needed less attention.

Overall, we continued to find the creaminess a little bit unsettling.

We imagine it was a bit like driving a Jaguar XKR 5.0 V8 Supercharged Convertible when (like me) you’re used to cycling.

The paint loaded nicely, although its smoothness and creaminess take a bit of getting used to

That is, perhaps a little too smooth for our own personal taste and experience.

But maybe something that I’d get used to.

In fact, if England were hot, then I’d jolly well make myself get used to it.

And my test pieces fired just fine on the usual firing schedule. Here’s one of the silhouette tiles that you’ll find in Part 2 of the e-book:

Excellent finish after firing

And here’s a leaf that we often paint on our glass painting courses in the studio. It uses softened lines as explained in Part 3 of the e-book:

Also fine for softened lines and shading

Our conclusion is that Series 5 is worth looking at, not just for reasons of health and safety, but also on account of its moisture-retaining property.

All the same, we ourselves will continue to use the standard lead-based stained glass paints as used for hundreds of years now.

Becky D., from Stoke-on-Trent, England, asked about gold paint.

“I am currently painting an art nouveau style lady for a centre insert into a leaded light. I’m mainly using antique browns and silver stain, possibly with some coloured enamel details for jewels. Now the customer has asked if it is possible to use gold on the headpeice. Do you know if gold paint is available anywhere? So far I can only find hobby paint, and I don’t wish to use that!”

The answer may be lusters (or lustres). You can use metallic lusters to give your glass the appearance of an object of gold, silver or copper. You can find out about Reusche’s range of lusters right here. (See page 11.)

Lusters are applied and then fired.

A different approach is to use gold leaf, which doesn’t need firing.

That’s in fact how we re-created this glass in the servants’ quarters of an English country house – with gold leaf and rabbit “size” (glue).

"Where's my blasted gin and tonic?"

(Ah, those were the days! The owners pulled cords, whatever room they were in. Down in the servants’ quarters, the appropriate square would flash. And off the servant would dash to do the bidding of his master and mistress.)

Our facsimile is protected by a piece of glass at the front of the box. This is just as well because gold leaf, even with lacquer on top, can easily be scratched. Lusters, however, are permanently fixed by firing.

Of course, another reason for the glass at the front is that this particular stately home is now occupied by a family with two four-year old sons … one of whom kicked a football at the 19th century original. (Remember Matthew 19:14, please.)

We’ve tried tracing and matting paints from all over the world. But we always come back to Reusche. Their glass paints mix together to make the lump of glass paint that permits us to do the kind of glass painting we enjoy. (Other brands of paint collapse like slugs with salt on them or like beached jelly-fish roasting in the sun. Get the picture?)

Also, Reusche’s “tracing” paint works a dream for both tracing and shading.

We mix Tracing Black (DE401) with either Bistre Brown (DE402) or sometimes even Umber Brown (DE403). These paints mix beautifully together. We use about 3 parts black to 1 part brown.

Why do we add brown?

We believe it makes a gentler, softer “black”.

Also, after a few minutes on the palette, the black and brown begin to separate a little. This serves as a useful visual reminder to keep re-mixing the diluted puddle of paint with which we’re tracing or shading.

If you also use Reusche, then it’ll be easier for us to advise you in case you ever have any questions.

Note: while Reusche has a minimum order of 1/2 pound, their suppliers can provide you with smaller quantities.