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!
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{ 7 comments }
Hello David,
Thank you for this useful information. Frankly speaking, since I started the undercoat method in my glass painting, I notice that I am more able to do my line tracing and that I can control how dark the glass I am painting is, and many other things besides! I for one am sure I will not be able to do all these things without painting an undercoat.
Regards to you and Stephen and both your families!
Hassan
Hello David:
I noticed on quite a few of those pieces you started coating it and then felt compelled to get your finger in there to rub the surface of the glass. What was that about? I can only think it was some water beading at the edge, but I would of thought oil from your fingers would make the problem worse. Do tell!
Regards,
Jason H.
Hello Jason,
The glass was a tiny bit dirty to start with. There was a whole batch I’d prepared the previous day and I should have undercoated them the previous day but I didn’t … so the next morning, grease had “got to” some of them.
And yes, you might expect my hands to be greasy, but after painting for a while, they’re actually quite abrasive!
All the best,
David
When you get your finger in there to rub surface of the glass, are you cleaning oil away maybe?
Thank you, David and Stephen, for your mails. (I write to you from Lima, Peru.)
Julio
Hi Julio in Lima!
Yes, I rubbed the glass with my very dirty fingers in order to remove some grease I should have removed before.
I am happy for you and everyone to see me “spot-cleaning” the glass like this because it’s good for people to know how you sometimes have to push through a job and the obstacles it throws up. So if the undercoat doesn’t go on as smoothly as I might wish, I just go over it a second time – “good enough” is, yes, good enough – then blend it carefully until it’s … good enough.
Of course it all depends on what is coming next. With all of these pieces, there will be a lot of tracing, shading, highlighting and painting with oil. So I can afford to be a little bit “rough and ready” with the undercoat.
All the best,
David
A bit of “Contact” paper or similar adhesive shelf liner can be used to hold small pieces. Cut a bit off the roll, remove the backing paper and place sticky side up on your light table. You can tape it down to the light table with a couple of pieces of masking tape. It should be tacky enough to hold the small pieces whilst undercoating, yet release easily with no adhesive residue on the underside of the glass.
Thanks, Robert – that’s a good tip. (I sometimes use children’s modelling clay myself.) Here, I just had two small pieces, so I was happy to fiddle with my fingers (as you saw). But you’re absolutely right – any more pieces than that, and it would definitely be a helpful idea to use tape or clay to hold them down.