Kiln-Fired Stained Glass Painting
Techniques | Recipes | Mastery - written and presented by Williams & Byrne
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 … ?
Glass painters often ask why I use oil before I fire my tracing and shading.
You’ll soon see. It’s all to do with the lovely effects that oil lets you quickly make.
“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 …
It is 3:12 in the morning. I am wide awake as I often am, listening to those radio podcasts I can’t hear during the day because I prefer silence when I paint glass (or J.S. Bach), when I am attacked by a sudden fit of breathless spluttering, a violent seizure … [click to continue…]
More essential tips about glass painting with oil
Hello again!
And welcome to Part 3 of this mini-series on oil-based stained glass painting.
Anyone who’s just joining us today, you’ll find Part 1 right here.
And before we get going today, there are a few questions from the audience … [click to continue…]
Another 5 essential tips for painting with oil
Hello again, it’s David here, while Stephen keeps nice and busy (and happy too, I trust) with some fiendishly difficult painting and the exciting new film project we’re working on.
Which leaves me in charge of the blog.
Ah, the power! Now I know how William Caxton felt.
Anyway, I took the executive decision to remind you of / excite you with the delights of painting with oil on top of unfired water-based glass paint.
And if you missed part 1 of my essential tips to oil-based glass painting, head off there right now and come back when you’re ready.
Now a number of you wrote and asked whether oil-based glass painting is only suitable for advanced or professional glass painters.
So let’s deal with that question before getting to grips with today’s essential tips … [click to continue…]
“Listen up for the joy and beauty of painting glass with oil”
Hello! It’s David here.
I’m now spending a few days in charge here while Stephen gets on with some tricky painting plus puts the finishing touches to a DVD we’ve been working on.
Anyway, yesterday I spent a morning painting with oil.
And what a calm and happy time it’s been.
Not that it isn’t when I’m working with water!
It’s just that, with oil, you can pretty much start and stop at your own pace.
And – rather than having a fixed idea of the effect you definitely want to achieve (as is the case with water) – you can push the oil paint here and there, and reflect on what looks best, changing it as you see fit.
So here – and over the coming days! – are some key points about working with oil on top of unfired water-based paint.
If you’re already a “convert”, these tips will come as a handy reminder.
And if you’re new to oil, they’ll show you its amazing potential.
So I’ll start off with 5 tips today, then we’ll continue the series the day-after-tomorrow (Wednesday) and see how we get on.
Following on from David’s provocative tip about painting with darkness, I’m going to make my own contribution with some clips I filmed while he was painting St. Martha’s head. Click here to watch the video demonstration
