All set now to paint the fierce lion tomorrow: tracing (outlining), then flooding. And once the flooding is dry, I’ll pick out his highlights using “the chalk method” – just like you do with stained glass lettering.

The prototype (not stained yet) came out fine (see right). Pin It

As usual, the water-colour design (see slideshow here) is more use to our client than it is to me the glass painter. Which is why I spent an hour making a pencil tracing which shows me the key lines and highlights I need to do my work:

The design - here's what I need to do my work

It will be a big piece as painted glass goes (430 mm / 17 inches across) – and worth every effort to make it the best it can be.

Best,

P.S. I describe “the chalk method” in an article I wrote for Glass Patterns Quarterly (Summer 2009) – see it here.

P.P.S. Is this something you find helpful – writing a plan before you start? (I do.)

My plan - 17 steps to paint the fiercest lion

Let me tell you that the key points are: have a plan (don’t usually invent things as you go along), hold your glass firmly with one hand, work from the bridge with the other, choose your highlighting tool with care (make your own as needed), be confident (not scratchy, unless scratchy is what you really want), consider stencils (especially if you have a repeating pattern), remember how the back of the glass is also good for stained glass highlights, and use your hands as needed (just be sure they’re clean).

Right, now I’ve said my piece, will you also have a look?

Your trace lines – your outlines, or contour lines – these lines can only be as good as your paint and tracing brush allow. So if your glass paint is badly mixed, or your tracing brush is wrongly shaped and loaded, your trace lines can’t be right. End of story.

That’s why today I want to show you the right and the wrong way to load your tracing brush. I just ask three minutes of your time, that’s all I’ll take, and in return you’ll see the difference.

Bad habits plague most of us

We all have different habits in how we use our hands. Which means we often – even without thinking (that’s the problem) – transfer these habits to our glass painting.

For example, we all use a computer keyboard, which means we hammer out letters and words.

And when we write by hand and paper, we all press heavily with our pen, secure in the unspoken knowledge the ink and nib are cleverly engineered, so nothing will leak or spill.

Really, writing by hand or keyboard has become an “impact sport” (and injuries do result).

Now of course you know how working with a brush is different. Of course you know a brush is soft and springy. Of course you also know you can give it many different shapes.

We all know these things.

Yet the natural habit is still to push too hard.

Which means when people load their tracing brush, this is the kind of thing they often do:

This is not the way to load a tracing brush with glass paint ...

This isn’t usually the way to do it. The obvious reason is, it distorts the brush.

The less obvious reason is, it loads the brush with too much paint.

And the disastrous consequence: wrong-shaped trace lines that are far too heavy. They’re probably also runny and uneven.

The answer is, a lighter touch

So this is what you need to learn to do:

This is much, much better

You must learn to twirl your brush round and round, across on the surface of the paint.

Yes, across the surface.

This is how your brush gets and keeps the shape you want – by twirling and skimming round and round.

This is also how your brush only absorbs as much paint as you want it to (because you never force it to “drink” more than its natural capacity).

In other words, don’t use your brush as if it were a broom …

How not to load a tracing brush - your brush is not a broom

Rather, imagine this – your brush is rather like an ice-skater:

How to load your tracing brush - much better

Even if you’ve heard me say before how you load you brush by “twirling and swirling”, I hope these photos make things clearer.

All the best,

P.S. The only way to be sure to get all these tips and demonstrations is to sign up here for the free email newsletter. You’ll be glad you did, so do it now.

Today four more useful reminders for you

Stephen’s four reminders last time were: oil, flooding, holding firm on pricing, and being comfortable when you work.

Now it’s my turn to look back on 2011 and also take you forward to the coming year.

1. Racing to trace vs. pacing your tracing

First up, tracing – specifically, what you must do to trace well. I don’t care how many times we mention this (repetition works).

Every week we hear from people whose whole approach has drastically improved – just because they stopped racing to trace and started focusing more on their palette.

As Abraham Lincoln said:

“If I had four hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend two of them sharpening my axe”.

Watch here the time it takes to load and shape your brush. When you do this properly, you improve your tracing straight away.

2. Magic bullets

I also like the honesty of Stephen’s approach right here. The point is, sometimes the secret of improving our skill isn’t found in buying something else but in simply making do with what you have right now. That’s why Stephen and I mostly work with just a few good brushes like these.

3. Vampires

For my next point, I plan to cheat – I want to remind you of something Stephen wrote in 2010. It’s more relevant than ever because some kinds of money (note the emphasis: some kinds, not all) are scarcer than ever. And in my view, that’s a good thing on the whole.

You see, I don’t like grant-dependency. I think it’s undignified.

Yes, I’ve changed my view with time. When I was a student, I thought grants were great. And I remember I was outraged when a lecturer told me “a grant-dependent artist was no more an artist than a prostitute was a girl-friend”. I don’t mean this language to offend you; I just want to make my point.

Back then, 30 years ago, I thought my lecturer was outrageous and reactionary. Now I just think she was giving me good advice about standing on my own two feet.

Time and again, I’ve seen the temptation of public money diverting time from making and wasting it on form-filling. Here’s one example, a cautionary tale.

(Bureaucrats and vampires – I’ve yet to spot a difference.)

4. Another cost of silver stain

I cannot greet the New Year without reminding you how, if you continue using water or vinegar with silver stain, then, no matter how long you clean them, the stain will eat your brushes and corrode your palette knife. It’s going to happen, and it’s going to cost you money.

Which is another reason we don’t mix stain with water or vinegar.

Rather we use oil; the good thing for our brushes and knives is that oil-based stain does not corrode them. This saves you a whole lot of time and money.

Mind you, that’s just a side-benefit.

The main benefit is, stain and oil work beautifully together. See here for a demo about how convenient it is to stain with oil, and here for another demo where you see how reliable it is.

And that’s all for today – more next week

Write when you’ve got questions.

Be sure you’re getting our email newsletter.

And accept our best wishes for a happy 2012 -

P.S. Kiln-fired stained glass painting – get your free weekly tips right here:

Take a few minutes to remind yourself about these four important glass painting techniques

The year is coming to an end.

Your best skills are needed more than ever.

That’s why it’s so important you look back and take account of all the things you’ve learned here these past 12 months.

So this week and next, we’ll select a handful of techniques you must master absolutely. I’ll start right now with …

Oil. Any fool can make things more complicated than they are; it takes a touch of genius to make them simple. That’s why David’s post on oil-based stained glass painting is worth your time. You’ll find it right here.

Next, flooding: if your paint ever blisters and bubbles in the kiln, remind yourself of these essential points. There’s also a quick video demonstration you can watch. All here.

Now an embarrassing one, though it really shouldn’t be. But pricing your work is difficult enough, even without Saint John warning us how no man “might buy or sell save that he has the mark or the name of the beast” (Revelation, 13, 17). And so, if you can take the heat, here’s why you shouldn’t simply calculate the cost at which to sell your painted stained glass. Yes, you have to do much more, and this is why.

Last for today is comfort. All right, this isn’t a “technique” as such. But I still want to state this important reminder: it shouldn’t always feel like hard work. Indeed, to paint glass well, you also need to be relaxed. Watch this clip and you’ll get the idea.

Until the next time -

P.S. These are just four quick reminders from the 50 articles we published here in 2011. The only way to get them all is to join our free email newsletter. Once you sign up, you’ll also get the glass painting tips and techniques we only send to our subscribers. All free and always private (because we will never sell or give your contact details to anyone else).

If you’re not already getting the free email newsletter, you’re missing out:

Start getting them now. I guarantee they’re worth your time.

The design can “make” you rush

A big problem you’ve maybe met is how, with the design in front of you, you want to rush and hurry and get it finished.

And yet …

And yet with everything you do with kiln-fired glass painting …

• Undercoating
• Tracing
• Strengthening
• Shading
• Highlighting and softening -

… yes, even cleaning the glass before you start: everything has its own pace which you must recognize and respond to.

Of course, experienced glass painters work faster than newcomers (like David sped through his undercoats in the video he made you last time).

But – if (that is) they still enjoy their work (and by no means all of them do: what a loss this is) – even fast-working and experienced glass painters respect the necessary rhythm of things.

Indeed, there are two perils of rushing.

First, you can make a mistake.

Second, the work becomes a chore, a burden – a means to an end, and rather heartless.

Which is no good – no good at all.

Particularly tracing – we instinctively want to see the outline

Take tracing.

Yes, tracing is a good example because we fixate so much on forming the outline:

“Thank goodness: the contour lines are all in place – everyone can see what it is now! – I can relax!”

I know this feeling well.

We often rush to form the outline - I know this feeling well

And it’s completely wrong.

Maybe the design has just eight lines. Maybe it has 749 … the number doesn’t matter: if you take them all at the correct pace, you’ll get them right, and you’ll also enjoy them for their own sake as opposed to simply rushing through with them.

On the other hand, when you rush tracing, then all kinds of things go wrong.

Like when you rush a curve, your brush can change shape or skid.

And when you rush a straight line, your paint won’t flow. (Yes! Often it’s because you’re moving too fast – you’re using your brush and glass paint as if it were a felt-tipped pen.)

To get it right – which doesn’t mean you go at a snail’s pace: it just means you don’t rush, is all – you have to move across from our twenty-first century world and adopt a very different way of doing things.

Getting one stroke right at a time - and then moving onto the next stroke

For example, each time you load and shape your brush, your thoughts are focused on the line or two in front of you: only on them: and you absolutely gather your attention and make sure you do everything you must to get them right. Just those one or two strokes.

And then you move on – to the next one or two strokes.

In a sense, your ambitions are very modest, and that’s exactly what helps you succeed. You see, all it is is “just” one good line, and then another, and then another, just one at a time, each one in its own time.

Unlike our 21st century

And why do I say this is so different from our twenty-first century world?

Well, when I was down in London the other week, I had someone “talking” to me while they were also texting on their phone.

Glass painting by contrast – OK, crafts are: one thing at a time, and mindfully.

Like I said: that way you’ll do it right, and also enjoy the journey.

Now let me finish by telling you a story. You’ll see the connection in no time at all …

A rush-hour performance

In Washington DC at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 58 minutes. He was a busker, a street musician, right?

During that time, maybe 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

And what exactly happened?

You’re a glass painter – an honorary outsider, as it were! – so if you don’t already know, well, you can probably guess.

After 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule. About 4 minutes later the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw money into his hat and walked on without stopping. At 6 minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes in, a 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent – without exception – forced their children to move on quickly.Some clue there surely …

At 45 minutes, the musician was still playing beautifully. Six people stopped and listened for a short while. And maybe 20 gave him money and continued walking.

For a few dollars more

After 1 hour, the violinist finished playing. There was hardly any appreciation … just one or two people at the very end who had sensed they were witnessing something special.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played some of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, he’d sold-out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is true. It was an experiment. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

Myself, when I first read about this a while back, I wondered: if we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made, well, I’m not so very different (even if I wish I were).

Which means I too must be missing so many other things as I rush through life. I’m sure I do – yes, all in the foolish rush to “get things done”.

And that’s what made me think of glass painting and not hurrying what you do.

That’s my point here.

OK, my students often think I’m crazy, I can live with that (for a couple of hours)

You know, when I’m teaching, it often takes a while for my students to stop thinking I’m weird. You see, I might spend three minutes tidying my palette and mixing my paint even though there are perhaps “only” four or five brush-strokes to paint.

And sometimes, when a student’s painting and I’m watching, sometimes I cry out: “Goodness me, your palette looks gorgeous – look at it: isn’t it beautiful? Can you see how completely perfect it is for what you want to do?” And they look at me as if I’m … well, like I said: they maybe think me strange because they haven’t yet got the confidence or experience to know exactly what they’re aiming for. (Which is why they’re spending time with me and David.)

I am not crazy - this palette looks gorgeous!

Yes, to start with, my students often think me mad. But – after a couple of hours – they see my point. It all starts to “sink in”. And then …

Then they’re like the few commuters who stopped and listened. They too fall in love with scenes like this one here:

So lovely ...

And, if you don’t yet have this confidence, that’s also what I also want for you.

Take this on trust until you see if from your own experience: don’t rush the tracing, the strengthening, the softening and shading, the highlighting – don’t even rush the cleaning and the undercoating: set aside the twenty-first century world.

Don’t “rush to work”.

This is so beautiful - it's important you enjoy it!

The whole point – yes, when you’re in the midst of it, it is the whole point: nothing else matters, even if you’re being paid – the whole point is the process of making something as it should be made.

Only then will it be fit for the rest of its time, whatever becomes of us the maker, the parent.

Makes sense to you?

Great!

And in that spirit of attentiveness, be sure to call back for our next three posts.

Together, we’ll look back on many of the tips and techniques we’ve shared with you this last year.

Happy glass painting!

P.S. You can read the original Post article right here. It’s a couple of years old but still relevant.

Right! In his last post, Stephen challenged you to do it with one hand tied behind your back.

Undercoating, I mean.

And several people wrote how maybe they were heavy-handed, because no matter how they tried, their glass always spun away across the light-box.

So I reckon the best thing now is to show you what we mean.

Sounds good to you?

Great! So you know what to do now, don’t you – read on!

Undercoats are great because …

OK, if you missed Stephen’s earlier post, please see it here – it explains four big benefits of undercoating your glass before you trace and shade it.

That’s why a light touch is best

And Stephen’s point was, it’s virtually hands-free – you generally don’t need to hold the glass you’re painting.

This is important because a light touch will give you a gentle, even undercoat.

OK so maybe that’s easier said than done.

Which is why I dug through our video archives and spliced these clips together for you here.

Please note: I’m not showing you how to mix your paint or load your brush or anything like that right now.

All I want to do is show you how to move your brush across the surface of the glass, and also how to blend your paint.

Is all!

So turn on your volume and have a look at this, why don’t you …

If the video’s not showing (like you’ve just got a rectangular black box) then maybe you need the latest version of Adobe Flash.

And if the play-back isn’t smooth, just hit the Pause button, and let the whole film load.

Thing is, undercoats are so useful, they’re absolutely worth practicing until you get them right.

And now you know: the best test of doing them right is … you barely need to hold the glass.

Happy glass painting!

Here’s an important tip for when you paint an undercoat or “wash” or “matt” (or however you call it) …

Undercoats – an important tip

OK – so take a few moments to check this photo on your right.

See anything special?

What do you reckon?

Actually, there’s nothing special: that’s the point. I’ll explain why in just a moment.

For now, let’s list the four top reasons why you should always consider painting an undercoat before you trace:

1. It’s a lovely surface to trace on – far nicer than bare glass
2. You know all of the glass is free from grease (proof: it’s covered with an undercoat)
3. The undercoat reminds you to keep your fingers to the edges and away from the surface where you want to paint – so your glass stays clean, even over several days
4. When you’ve finished your tracing, you can cut through the undercoat with sticks, scrubs and fingers, and so make highlights in a single firing … gorgeous, and economical as well
   

There you have it: four excellent reasons why you should always consider painting an undercoat before you trace. It isn’t always right. But you must always consciously decide to (or not).

Now, what was peculiar about the photo? Like I said, nothing in particular. And that’s the point.

Like, when you trace, you don’t usually hold your glass (usually, you hold your bridge). See here:

When you trace, you don't usually hold your glass ...

When you flood and block in, you don’t usually hold your glass (once again, you mostly hold your bridge):

When you trace, you don't usually hold your glass ...

Even when you silver stain … yes, you got it! You don’t usually hold your glass:

Even when you stain, you don't usually hold your glass ...

And it’s no different when you come to undercoating – that’s the point:

Just so when you paint an undercoat - you don't usually hold your glass ...

Now this is important because when most people undercoat, I don’t know what happens: maybe they imagine their glass will wriggle away unless they grasp it and pin it down.

But that means they’re being too heavy-handed with their brush.

When the brush is well loaded and well shaped, then you only need the slightest bit of pressure against the glass for the paint to flow.

Undercoating – it’s virtually hands-free

And that is why, even when you undercoat, you scarcely need to touch your glass. This is actually the proof you need that your paint is well mixed and your brush is well loaded and correctly shaped:

When your paint is the right consistency and your brush is well shaped, you don't need to hold your glass ...

Your hand’s just there to steady the glass in case it wobbles. But it probably won’t.

Really, mix the paint well, then load and shape your brush – and I reckon you can do it with your hand behind your back.

Give it a try, and let me know!

P.S. If you want to know more about undercoating, it’s all explained in this guide here and all shown on these films here.

In my last post I gave you 9 tips for keeping a steady hand when tracing, or – “How to stop the wobbles“.

The last tip was, not too much wine. (Well, actually, none at all is best. At least before.)

Which reminds me how David’s been teetotal for 30 years.

Not a single drop.

Thankfully, that’s not the secret of his amazing skill, though as I say, you’ll definitely paint better when you’re “dry”.

No, other things also count – like your painting bridge and how you treat it …

Love your painting bridge as if your life depended on it

Let me put it to you like this. Suppose you need a ladder to do an important job. You’ll take time to think where best to place it. You’ll also check it several times to make sure it’s stable.

OK, that’s also how you should think about your bridge.

Treat your bridge as a friend, not a stranger

Now I know you won’t break your neck if you get it wrong.

It’s just that if you get it wrong, I promise you you will not paint the stroke you want to paint.

But here’s what often happens when we trace: we fixate on the stroke itself – on what we want to do.

And actually you have to fixate on the context – on whatever allows you to get it right.

The bridge – is part of the context.

Your bridge is a tool

Yes, a tool.

But most people don’t think of it like this.

They think, like:

“It feels awkward, I wish I didn’t have to use it

And also:

“I’m not really sure what I should be doing with this but other glass painters use it so I suppose I should as well …”

No, most people don’t consider the bridge a tool. They pretty much overlook it, or think of it as an uncomfortable necessity.

But here’s what master glass painters quietly know: they know they must resist the temptation to rush forward to the brush-stroke.

And if that’s new to you, then that’s what you must also do.

Before each stroke, take 10 seconds to consider: is the bridge in the right position?

All right, so what happens when I move it a little bit this way or a tiny bit that way?

You’ll be amazed how just moving it 10 degrees can make such a huge difference.

Small changes make a big difference

You’ll also find it helps to reflect for a moment on how the bridge is there to guide you.

So put it exactly where you want it: really take time to consider where you want it. Also check it’s stable. Get in the habit of doing this every time you paint a stroke.

Every time.

Yes, it’s second-nature to me and David. And repetition and constant practice will also make it second-nature to you. Imagine how that’ll improve your painting: and isn’t that worth aiming for?

All the best,

P.S. I’ve got a lot of time for Maurice de Vlaminck, not least because he said how “Visiting museums bastardizes your personality just as hobnobbing with priests makes you lose your faith” … (Self-serving and self-important curators of the world: you need to wake up and listen! Is the museum a way to improve your C.V., or is it actually there to nourish our soul?)

But last weekend we visited not one but two museums which restored our faith.

The first was the breath-taking Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.

The second one was smaller but vividly inspiring: the museum of flat glass and enamel art in Ravenstein, where we were given a very warm welcome by Mr Jan Klink, the founder and director.

We saw both museums as guests of PELI Glass who had invited us to the Netherlands to give a whip-cracking five-hour seminar called “Fire less, paint better”.

One glass painter said she’d waited 20 years to learn what we had taught her in just one day.

So when I say you must pay attention to your bridge, this is not about me, it’s valuable advice.

Your bridge is a simple but perfect tool to help you trace the perfect stroke

Many people ask how to keep a steady hand when tracing. They say their hands sometimes wobble and shake. Well, there are various things to remember here. I’ll tell you about the most important ones.

All 9 of them.

Oh – plus a free bonus, number 10.

1. Have a plan – a complete plan

When you paint a test piece, it’s fine to leave it to chance, to explore and see what happens. Absolutely fine. But when it comes to do the piece for real, you must know your plan inside-out and keep to it. This will help your concentration. And your concentration will help keep your hands steady.

2. Well-mixed paint

If your paint is well-mixed, it will do what you want it do, not what it wants to. (Big difference.) When you trace, you probably spend about 20% of your time looking after your paint and palette. This surprises many people, because they’re so used to everything being “ready-made” for them, but … glass paint just isn’t like that. Glass paint needs your constant attention. Then and only then will it do what you want.

3. Don’t overload the brush

Too much paint and even the smallest shake of your hand will make paint flow where you don’t want it to, which means your line will wobble. So, when you load your brush, it’s usually just the tip which makes contact with the pool of glass paint. That way, the hairs absorb and suck up only as much paint as they can (they don’t get over-loaded).

4. Keep your brush as dry as possible

Each time I wash my brush (and I wash it every 5 minutes or so), I flick it to the floor two or three times and shake out every last drop of water. You see, the last thing you want is water in your brush. Why? – Because it secretly flows down and interferes with the paint you’ve just taken so much trouble to mix and load your brush with. Then when something then goes wrong, of course your confidence is shaken, and of course your hand gets wobbly and uncertain. Disaster.

5. Don’t push too hard with the brush

Most of the time, it’s just the tip which does the work (you choose the correct size brush for the typical width of line you want to make, so even with a big brush it’s still mostly just the tip). If the paint is right (see point 2), it will flow evenly and smoothly from the tip. Your job is (mostly) just to maintain the same amount of pressure, not to change it (because that will change the rate at which the paint flows).

6. Keep your bridge clean

If your bridge is dirty, your hand will stick and slide. Same goes for your hands: keep them clean. Then you can move smoothly up and down the bridge. No wobble.

7. Be decisive

For each stroke – and I mean each and every stroke – decide where you will start it and decide where you will stop it. It’s like walking a tightrope: don’t look down, look straight ahead and just … go … for … it.

8. Be reasonable

David can trace or paint for maybe eight hours a day with a rest every hour or so. I can trace for maybe half that time. He knows his limits, I know mine, you must know yours. Take heart here. Each time you do things right, your limits will expand. So even if it’s “just” for 15 minutes, tell yourself it’s just for 15 minutes, have a reasonable expectation about what you can do in 15 minutes, and you’ll be amazed. Problems happen when someone decides they’ll paint all day, and their concentration isn’t that far advanced; or when they say they’ll trace a whole face in 20 minutes when really they need two hours. These mistakes make the hands wobble!

9. Not too much coffee and wine

Lastly, not too much coffee. Also no point in painting if any one’s drunk too much wine the night before – really, it’s better to sweat it off and do other things.

Fire less, paint better

Right now David and I are busy preparing for the seminar we’ll give on Saturday when we fly to the Netherlands and spend a whole day with 10 fellow glass painters who want to see our techniques in action.

We’ll focus on one particular piece of painted glass.

By the end of the day, everyone will understand how, when they fire less, they also paint better.

All the best,

10. Know when you’re brush can’t handle it …

Did you know this?

Tracing brushes go through three stages:

1. When you first get them, they’re stiff – you need to work them in, because they won’t do what you ask them to.
2. Next – if you care for them – they have a good, long time when they are responsive and full of spring. They are a joy to paint with.
3. But the day comes, when they cannot lift their head.

Even a pro will have problems with a brush that’s begging for retirement …

When your brush is past its best, it's time to say "Goodbye" no matter how much you love it

Remember this. If you’re not signed up for the newsletter, you’re missing out on important glass painting tips and techniques. So sign up here.

]]> http://www.realglasspainting.com/stained-glass-painting-techniques/2011/11/14/9-tips/feed/ 0