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.

Teenagers, and the will to paint stained glass

Tip: if you can’t see the Podcast Player, hit your refresh button and reload the page.

And if Stephen’s English accent is difficult to follow, click here to listen and read the transcript.

Best,

P.S. You can also listen on iTunes or listen on Audiboo.

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 …

The outlines

Here we go with “The Beastly Lion of Wolsey Towers” – episode #3:

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Notes

Watch the bridge: see how often you must move it to be sure your brush is in the right place at the right time. That’s the point: your bridge is always on the move so that it gives your tracing hand the precise support it needs.

Also see how the paint (although – certainly – a liquid) is yet dry enough for the glass painter to control it perfectly. This is important. Novices always make their paint too runny. Then they lose control. Their lines go wobbly and the coverage is uneven. What they need is drier paint. Then they will succeed.

Conclusion

Tracing is difficult: the paint is always drying out, and it’s hard to make the lines as elegant and lovely as they should be. These things are difficult.

But tracing is far less difficult when you use the recipes and techniques revealed here.

If you’re having difficulties with your tracing, you have a money-back guarantee this guide will help you.

Best,

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 …

The finished glass

Top-right you see where we’re eventually heading.

And here’s a close-up shot:

The Beastly Lion of Wolsey Towers

This is where we are right now – a long, long way to go …

In episode #1 – the undercoat

And now – as is always the case with stained glass painting – there are, before anyone can start to trace, the necessary preparations.

Dismiss them at your peril!

Watch next episode now

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Notes

OK, so about two minutes in, the glass painter gives himself a test patch: this is a test patch for the tracing paint he’s mixing.

Four minutes in, having tried to trace, the glass painter notices that his palette is far too wet. So he removes some paint from around the edges. Otherwise it would be impossible to control the tracing paint as you will see in Episode #3 …

Questions?

Best,

P.S. Yes, next time: tracing the outline.

P.P.S. Remember, from episode #4, you’ll need to join our newsletter to get the password – see right and sign up now.

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 … ?

Oil

Right. The advantages of oil?

1. Easy shading
2. Long-lasting batch of glass paint
3. No paint loss in the kiln (it doesn’t get lighter)
4. No dust.

The kinds of oil? Oil of Tar: oil of Lavender – whatever works. (And many oils do.)

The disadvantages of oil?

1. A risk of over-painting
2. The smell
3. The toxicity e.g. oil of Tar is carcinogenic, Lavender is said to be unsuitable for pregnant women.

I write quickly here, since this is just to remind you of the topics we cover here.

But speaking of disadvantages, there is one in particular.

For some, this is worse than anything else the world might throw at us. It is worse than the evil smell of Tar oil. Even worse than the fact oil is poisonous.

Can you guess what it is?

You must be so clean!

Yes. All hell will break loose if oil contaminates any of the tools you use for the work you do with water. Just one drop, one careless drop of oil: that’s all it takes.

It is easy to have an accident which wrecks a costly batch of water-based paint.

Thus oil requires you to be scrupulously – no: surgically – clean.

And as I said, this is probably a lot for many glass painters.

Which is a crying shame, because, when cleanliness prevails and oil is administered with skill, the results are then as beautiful and subtle as any glass painting you will ever see.

And this takes me naturally to an especially helpful property of Propylene glycol …

Propylene glycol – you don’t have to be an angel of cleanliness

You see, it mixes like oil. It absorbs the dust like oil. Also like oil, you can make a batch which keep for ages and is very, very economical. Plus, it shades like oil.

All the same, it’s water-soluble.

So those saintly, other-wordly standards of cleanliness are simply not required of you. Which is good, eh?

Of course, it’s not the same as oil: not quite as subtle – you could tell the difference between an antique original done with oil of Tar and a modern copy done with glycol. But, other than for the fanatical demands of restoration, the choice is yours to make.

Yes, it is still advisable to keep a separate set of brushes and use a separate knife and palette. But you don’t have to take obsessive care. You can relax, get on with things; which is exactly how we like it.

Another advantage of glycol over oil is, you can trace with it and add new details.

Glycol – no bleeding

This is difficult with oil because oil tends to bleed. With glycol, there’s no bleeding. So after all the tracing and shading you do with water, you have a further opportunity to use glycol to add new detail. It is useful to have this opportunity.

If your nose is sensitive – mine is – it is also good that glycol is close to odourless.

In The Master & the Beast (the third documentary we made), you observe and study two demonstrations: one where oil of Tar is used, and one with glycol. In both cases, the basic procedure is the same:

1. Apply a light, thin wash of oil / glycol mixed with just a little bit of paint
2. Use a paper towel to absorb the excess
3. Blend

Your surface is now suitably prepared. So now you add your lovely shadows.

If you’re using glycol, you can also add new lines – safe in the knowledge they won’t bleed.

Watch this – oil of Tar

Here’s your first clip from The Master & the Beast:

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Watch this – Propylene glycol

Here’s your second clip:

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Do you see the difference?

With oil, you don’t usually add new lines (because they bleed); with glycol, you can.

The Master & the Beast

This documentary shows you two full-length demonstrations. Each one lasts 50 minutes. The first one – “The Master” – finishes with oil of Tar; the second one – “The Beast” – with propylene glycol.

If you haven’t yet watched this film, you can watch it here.

All the best,

P.S. Two final points. First, you don’t use gum Arabic with oil or glycol. Second, you shouldn’t need to use a hair-dryer on the initial oil / glycol wash (before you start to trace or shade): this is because the water-based paint beneath will anyway absorb a lot; and the whole purpose of the dabbing and the blending is to absorb any excess.

P.P.S. Any questions or experiences you want to share? Please write a note. (Even though I’m in the south of France this month, I am still working.)

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.

How to clean your badger quickly

The quick way to clean your badger blender is – just remember this gives off dust – strike its tips against the leg of your work-bench:

A quick way to clean your badger blender

You strike its tips as often as needed. Some loose dirt will fly into the air; the rest will be transferred to your work-bench leg. But, wherever else it goes, it will leave your brush.

How to clean your badger thoroughly

Sometimes though you’ll also need to wash your blender.

The reason is, if you mix gum Arabic in your glass paint, in time your blender’s tips will clog up with tiny drops of hardened glass paint.

“In time …” – it doesn’t happen often.

But when it does, this is what you do. You wash your blender’s tips – important: just the tips – under running water. This dissolves the glue and loosens stubborn dirt.

Next, you dry it, because a wet badger is no good for blending. So you roll its shaft between the palms of your hands. Back and forth, back and forth you roll it, so the hairs spin out almost horizontally:

How to dry your badger blender – roll its shaft between your hands like this …

Finally, for good measure, just as you did for the quick clean, you can also strike its tips back and forth against your work-bench leg.

Before you use it, check it’s dry.

If it isn’t, roll it back forth again.

Even when you think it’s dry, it’s still a good idea to test it on your light-box first.

Water vs. Oil

You keep this badger blender for glass paint mixed with water and gum Arabic.

For glass paint mixed with oil or glycol, a small, round-headed badger is what you use. So, if you’re cleaning oil, rinse your brush with gentle soap, then use some oil of Lavender to condition the hairs. If glycol, just rinse with water.

The Beastly Lion of Wolsey Towers

Watch episode #1 right here.

Remember, episodes #1-#3 are for everyone. After that, you need the password which is just for glass painters who are signed up to get our newsletter. Just scroll up and see the red writing on your right.

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.

The design

Questions and problems follow from the design, which follows from the brief the client gives you. This time, a round skylight, measuring 1230 mm across:

The Beastly Lion of Wolsey Towers

The beastly lion himself is in the centre, measuring 430 mm across.

So it’s a fair-sized piece of glass.

Another fact you must know is the client insisted the window must look ancient.

In fact, as wrecked as possible.

I’ll remind you of this when (in episode 7) you see us attacking the half-fired paint to damage it …

For now, here’s a close-up of the ancient-looking design the client authorised us to paint for him:

The Beastly Lion Close-Up and Ancient

Now, once the glass is cut and clean, what would you do?

I wonder …

Would you trace the outline?

Or would you paint an undercoat?

OK, ourselves, we chose to paint an undercoat, because this will help with the tracing.

It will also give us a surface to scratch and abuse, so helping to fake the panel’s considerable age.

The undercoat

But wait a moment …

As I said, this is a fair-sized piece of glass.

Have you ever applied an undercoat to a piece this size?

What do you suppose the difficulties are? What might go wrong? What can one do to avoid the difficulties you foresee …

Think about these questions for a moment.

Then when you’re ready, click Play.

Episode #1

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You got questions?

Great. Then use the comment box below.

Best,

P.S. The first 3 episodes are for everyone. From episode #4, you’ll need to join our newsletter to get the password. Scroll up and see the sign-in form top-right.

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

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 …

When you blend, you sweep across the glass

Rather, you want to sweep across the glass on the same (flat) plane, because that’s how you blend evenly.

And that is why, most times, the movement comes from your elbow; sometimes, indeed, from your whole arm. That is why a grip like this is better:

Get a good, strong grip like this …

A grip like the one you see above is firm and confident. It encourages you to sweep from your elbow - or even from the top of your shoulder.

You will need to experiment for yourself. For instance, your fingers will not be the same length as mine. But the main point is you’ll work better when you hold your badger blender like a proper tool.

The badger blender is not a feather duster. It is a heavy-duty tool.

You’ll learn much more about blending in Part 1 of Glass Painting Techniques & Secrets from an English Stained Glass Studio. If you also like to watch and copy, then these films about glass painting are very good because they show you exactly what to do.

Announcement

Next week we’ll start a new series of video demonstrations for you.

It’s called “The Beastly Lion of Wolsey Towers”.

In the first episode, you’ll see how to use your badger blender when you’re working with a big piece of glass.

You’ll see how the movement comes from the elbow and the upper arm (not from the wrist).

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.

A quick reminder

Forgive the quick reminder, but we must agree on how we use our words.

The “undercoat” is a light-coloured wash of glass paint which you apply to the whole surface of the glass before you start to trace etc.

You apply the wash, and, while the paint is wet, you blend it till it’s smooth. Then, when the undercoat dry, you start to work on top of it with lines and shadows.

The familiar reasons are:

1. The undercoat is a much more practical surface on which to trace than bare and slippery glass;
2. It proves to you your glass is absolutely free from grease and dirt;
3. It also keeps your glass clean while you work, and it reminds you to hold it at the edges;
4. Later, when you’ve traced and shaded, you can use sticks and scrubs to make highlights – all this before you’ve even done your first firing …

But now consider the next important reason why, each time you plan a piece, you must decide about the undercoat.

See, all those reasons are to do with you, the glass painter.

And now it’s time to think about your audience.

The undercoat and who your glass is for

Yes, the undercoat helps you, but it isn’t just for you.

Fact is, the undercoat improves the legibility of your lines and shadows: the undercoat makes it easier for your viewer to see and understand them.

The reason is, you’re working with transmitted light, which dazzles.

At the extreme, when the light is very bright indeed, we scrunch and close our eyes.

Think: driving at night when the oncoming car forgets to dip its headlights …

Certainly, it’s far less extreme in daylight where your glass is normally seen. But the same principle applies. The transmitted light can easily over-dominate your work.

The tragedy is, unless the problem is severe, it’s not something you will notice.

Do you know why? The reason is, you’re too familiar with what you’ve made. Therefore your brain assists you, and everything seems clear, but to your viewers’ eyes it isn’t.

Yes. Light dazzles.

Uncontrolled, it pours around your lines and shadows and squeezes in on them, making them appear thinner than you intended.

Which means your viewers don’t see the lines and shadows as you see them (because you know them all to well).

So I know how some people resist the undercoat because they feel it detracts from the very qualities which attract us all to glass – the fact glass is so bright and colourful.

But that’s the medium in its ‘natural’ state.

It’s only what you start with, your blank canvas.

Conclusion

And if you want your painted image to be seen as you intend, you may well need to assert control over the quantity of light which passes through your finished window.

The undercoat can help you there.

Make sense?

Therefore, is it right to call this the fifth benefit?

Actually, don’t you consider it is – the first?

All the best,

P.S. See here for full details on how you can use these techniques and media to drastically improve your work.

The Real Glass Painting podcast: episode #1

It’s interesting to talk with people, not just paint and write. So this is something new for you.

A podcast.

Episode #1 – the glass painter as storyteller.

Are you ready for us to talk?

Then listen here:

iTunes

Audiboo

Warning: contains strong language. Well, one bad word. Plus a strong attack on a certain breed of writers, which is why we glass painters are so very, very fortunate by comparison.

If my English accent is difficult, listen and read the transcript here.

Best,

In the late-middle years of his working life, there was once a man who visited our studio. He knocked and walked in with a package, and here is what he told us concerning his apprenticeship and the problem he now had.

The story of an apprenticeship and a cut-line

“I left school at 14 and straightways took an apprenticeship with Bridgeworth’s, the window-makers (long gone now). This was in the 50s and they worked me hard and paid me even less. But as I say, why should they pay me at all when they were giving me my trade?

“I spent three years cementing except for one day a week when I was allowed out to learn fitting. ‘Course we fitted in all weathers, so I soon learned the reason my cementing must be good. And I also saw what happened when the windows didn’t fit – fault of someone’s poor measuring or careless drawing or bad making. And yes, mistakes happened; not all of them were mine. And when they did, we put them right together and often worked late into the dark hours when my schoolmates who had taken easy office work were all out dancing.

Training

“Then three years’ cutting and leading except for one day a week when I was taught measuring and shown how to make a template and how to draw a cut-line, so sometimes I even worked on windows I had sized and drawn myself. And sure as sure, sometimes things went wrong. But now rarely down to anything I’d done. Even so we put them right together; this was just a way we had.

“Then three more years when Mr Bridgeworth had me organise the workshop for him, and schedule all the work, and oversee all the drawing, and be sure the glass was cut to size on time, and that it fitted well together; then leaded up and soldered and cemented and left to cure a full two weeks so as not a drop of rain could pass. And I’d take each window in ten and have the men drench it with water, and if one drop came through I’d throw out the lot of them and keep the men back till every last one was checked and patched.

Diamond quarries

“After that I left the city where work was growing scarce, and made my own way here [in the countryside] where the old life still counted.

“So I set up on my own and found good times these last 30 years, making quarried windows with squares or rectangles or sometimes even diamonds with a border running up and down each side.

“And what I’m saying is, I need your help, else I wouldn’t interrupt you, because I know how everyone who makes things with their hands is always busy.

“You see, I’m fine with squares or rectangles or diamonds; and people do know they must never bring painted work to me.

“But someone’s come and asked me for some daffodils. Coloured glass and leading is all they want, but if I tried to draw these daffodils – well, I can’t draw anyhow like you can: and the petals will be monstrous and the leaves will droop, and I should never forgive myself for even trying when it’s not something I ever could do well.

“And that’s precisely what I’m saying to you: will you draw my cut-line for me?”

Now he stopped.

So David said: “Have you the template? Then leave it here, and come back in an hour”.

Nearly 10 years ago this happened; I have a family now, and the world has changed more than I could ever think it might.

And just yesterday I was re-ordering the studio’s cut-lines when I came across the tube in which there lay our copy of these daffodils.

The original measured 360 mm across and 780 mm to the highest point of the arch.

If these daffodils are something you can ever use, then adjust them to your needs. (Be sure first to compensate for lens distortion by squaring up the sides.)

Like the man asked us for, it’s a lead-light cut-line: no painting at all. Take it here.

OK: those of you who don’t yet have this but want some painted daffodils, take them here. (Size is A4 / US legal.)

And when you want to paint, the written guides are here, the films are here.

Best,