Welcome to the glasspainting

abut glass painting art
Reverse painting on glass is an art anatomy consisting of applying acrylic to a allotment of glass and again examination the angel by axis the glass over and attractive through the glass at the image. Later the painting on glass advance to Italy area in Venice it afflicted its Renaissance art. Since the mid of 1st aeon painting on glass became advantaged by the Church and the dignity throughout Central Europe. Throughout 19th aeon painting on glass was broadly accepted as folk art in Austria, Bavaria, Moravia, Bohemia and Slovakia. Unfortunately, during the inter-war aeon (1914-1945) this acceptable "naive" address fell about to a complete abeyance and its methods of acrylic agreement and structural blueprint had to be re-invented by accumulation acrylic and oil paints. Therefore the painting on glass becomes a accustomed alternative for refurbishing a fresh abode congenital in a acceptable rustic style. The painting can be astute or abstract. Astute about-face paintings are added arduous to actualize as one must, for example, in painting a face, to put the adherent of an eye on the glass afore the iris, absolutely the adverse of accustomed painting. This appearance of painting is begin in acceptable Romanian icons basic from Transylvania. This anatomy of painting is additionally alleged as about-face glass painting. Recently this appearance of painting is accepting acclaim units delineation of Hindu deities abnormally in Southern India. These consistently absorb ample bulk of Gold acrylic and colors like red and blooming for the gem stones adorning the deities. Acrylic acrylic is the frequently acclimated painting average and these absorb actual attenuate brushes and minute workmanship. This appearance of painting could battling the acceptable Tanjore painting in the advancing years with its beautiful address and abundant bottom costs in the abreast future.

by Angelika Stehle
Glass paint is a transparent paint (with the exception of black and white which are opaque).
While there is water-based (acrylic) glass paint for children, artists usually buy solvent-based paints for a professional outcome. The solvent-based paints (such as "Vitrail") are durable after drying. The downside of solvent-based paints is the strong odour, which makes good room ventilation necessary while you are doing your artwork.
The paints are thinned and brushes cleaned with white spirit, - again a good reason for good ventilation by means of an open window or an extractor fan. Working outside is a nice option in beautiful weather.
Glass paint (as opposed to oil paint, acrylic paint, or watercolours) is very fluid and therefore needs to be contained within the intended painting areas on the glass. This is usually done using outliner which is acrylic paint out of a tube with a fine nozzle which helps to control the thickness of the line as well as the flow. Outliner comes in black, red, gold, silver, and lead-colour, all non-toxic and acrylic-based. The outlines have to be thoroughly dry before the design can be filled in with glass paints. Even after the painting is completed, the outlines will be susceptible to damage, and great care has to be taken when cleaning your glass artwork (- never use chemicals). Another possibility to contain the paint on the glass is the use of peel-off leading. The longest-lasting option though is using a self-adhesive lead-strip which you can bend into the required shapes and attach firmly to the glass surface using a pressing tool. The authentic look (or imitation of stained glass) is even more convincing if you attach the lead-strip on the reverse side of the glass as well. -A note of caution though: lead is toxic, so you need to always wash hands thoroughly before eating and even avoid touching your face or licking your fingers after you have handled lead! Very fine details within a design can be added lateron using a technical pen or a fine permanent marker.
Glass paints come in bottles. Please avoid shaking them, as it is difficult to remove the resulting air bubbles. Glass paints are intermixable only within their own range. That said, interesting effects can be seen when paints from different ranges of solvent-based glass paints are used together and refuse to mix completely. Also, mixing any colour with white on a palette will give you an opaque pastel effect which is quite attractive. But never try to mix water-based
acrylic) glass paints with solvent-based glass paints, it just won't work.
The paints should be applied on a horizontal glass surface, or else they will run out of their defined outlined areas. You start by using a brush and carefully applying paint around the inside edge of the outlined area. Then you can load the brush liberally with paint from the bottle and while avoiding drops swamp the centre of the intended area with glass paint.
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Then the paint should be allowed to settle flat within the defined area, which will create the desired stained-glass effect. Continue by painting all the areas meant for that particular colour before you change to another colour. (Clean the brush with white spirit.) Be careful not to paint too close to a freshly painted area if you don't want different colours running into each other. Any mistakes can be corrected using a cotton bud though.
Oh, and always try to keep your paint bottles covered to avoid the paint going dry. By the way, it would be good to carefully stir paints that haven't been used for a while, because the pigment might have separated itself from the solvent. But again, avoid creating bubbles.
Paints can be diluted by adding clear glass varnish (solvent-based). This takes the intensity and denseness away. While painting, you can achieve various effects, for instance, little blobs of dark colour within a lighter colour can be blended in with a feathering movement of the brush.
When the painting is finished, it should be stored flat and covered with a dustfree box and left to dry for at least 8 hours; it is even safer to call it 24 hours or more, depending on the thickness of the paint.
Another note of caution: If you paint on flat glass sheets, please be very careful not to cut yourself on the edges. Either have them smoothed for safety by your glazier, or attach some tape around them. Also, if the glass needs to be cut to size, it is wise to do that before painting, not afterwards, to avoid disappointment.
It is also interesting to paint on glass items: bottles, plates, glasses, etc., but please remember that after painting these can be used only for decorative purposes. Wash them only in cold water, and dry them carefully with a soft cloth. Vases, bowls, glasses, and other such glass objects need to be painted and dried in sections, laid on an old towel or soft cushion and turned only when completely dry.
Once the artwork is finished and can be admired against the rays of the sun or even candlelight, you'll be pleased to have tried it and eager to progress to do more.

Traditionally, Glass painting referred to painting on the apparent of a area of Glass to be included in a decrepit Glass work. In best cases, the Glass paints acclimated for decrepit Glass painting are predominately browns and gray-blacks. The colors tend to be baptized or gum Arabic based, and can be activated with a besom in a adjustment agnate to the way watercolors are applied. In best cases, these paints are accursed assimilate the Glass application a kiln. There are several above types of acceptable decrepit Glass paints, including alkali trace paint, matt paint, argent stain, and oil based paints.

• Alkali trace paint
Gum Arabic, which helps the acrylic stick to the glass, is usually purchased in crumb anatomy and charge be alloyed with baptize or booze afore using.
Vinegar trace acrylic charge be activated "wet on wet"; that is, both the besom and the Glass apparent charge be wet. You can't administer added acrylic to a accurate abode already it dries; if you do, the acrylic is acceptable to cell back accursed in the kiln.
Painting with alkali trace acrylic requires practice. The hardest allotment is acquirements to administer aloof the appropriate bulk of paint. Back dry, alkali trace acrylic is about aching or aching with a baby stick or quill. This gives the acrylic a arrangement and abyss that can't be gotten from the acrylic alone. Already prepared, the acrylic is accursed to about 1100 degrees F.
• Matt paint
Matt paint, which uses a abject of either baptize and gum Arabic or baptize and vinegar, is easier to administer than alkali trace paint. Because it is added cellophane than alkali trace paint, matte acrylic is about activated over archetype paint. Often, two firings are required, one for the archetype acrylic and a additional for the matt paint.
Matt acrylic is best frequently acclimated for bushing in backgrounds and abacus shadows. As with alkali trace paints, the blush alternative is somewhat limited, consisting primarily of blacks, brown, blues, and greens.

• Argent stain
Silver stain, which is accessible in shades of red, yellow, and orange, gets its name from the attendance of argent nitrate in the stain. After firing, it turns golden, not silver-colored. Since argent stains are accursed to about 1000 to 1100 F, they may be accursed at the aforementioned time as decrepit Glass paints. Unlike Glass paints, argent stains becloud and abound added with anniversary firing.

• Oil-based decrepit Glass paints
The above disadvantage of these paints is that they tend to be beneath constant in application; although colors may be alloyed like approved oil paints, they do not consistently mix calmly or thoroughly and sometimes blaze unevenly.
Oil-based paints, which use an oil-turpentine base, are about accursed to a hardly lower temperature than water-based paints. If you are absorbed in acquirements added about the acceptable decrepit Glass painting process, access a archetype of Albinus Celsius's The Art of Painting on Glass, broadly advised the archetypal in the field.

Petri Anderson
Stained glass painting techniques have not changed dramatically since the
earliest known examples of the craft back in 9th century Germany. Today, as
then, the first stage is the production of a full size working drawing. Using
this drawing as a template, the glass is selected and cut, and each piece of
glass is individually painted using glass paint. The paint is then fired into
the surface by heating the glass to approximately 650° centigrade in a furnace.
When all of the glass has been painted it is assembled into panels by bending
'H' section strips of lead around the pieces of glass and soldering the strips
together where they meet.
Broadly speaking this has been the process over the past ten centuries. There
have however, been several innovations, particularly in techniques of glass
painting, which have both enriched and added to the variety of stained glass
that can be appreciated today.

Some of the techniques available in the medieval period were recorded by
Theophilus, a 12th century German monk who was also a glass painter. He talked
of the various metal oxides used in the production of different coloured
glasses. He also detailed the production of 'flash' glass, a thin layer of
coloured glass on top of a clear glass substrate, and described the process of
removing areas of the thin coloured 'flash' using an abrasive wheel, which has
the effect of achieving both a colour and white on a single piece of glass.
These basic methods of production are still used today, although the flash is
seldom abraded in the same way: modern techniques include etching with
hydrofluoric acid and sand blasting. With parchment then a rare and valuable
commodity, Theophilus and his contemporaries drew up their designs on
whitewashed tables. As paper and parchment became more accessible this procedure
was abandoned.

In medieval stained glass manufacture, the design was painted directly onto the
coloured glass panes, adding monochrome detail to a coloured base. The colour of
the paint itself was dependent on the amount and type of oxide used in its
production, but was usually black or brown. Until the 14th century the paintwork
seen on glass was predominantly applied by brush, with some further working with
sticks, quills and stiff coarse brushes once the paint had dried. This is
sometimes referred to as the smear technique, and it produced quite coarse
results.

A 14th century development in glass painting technique was the use of the badger
hair brush. This is a broad brush (some modern badger hair brushes are 5'' wide)
which is used as a dry brush on wet paint to soften the paint effect and remove
application brush marks. Frequently the badger brush was also used to achieve a
'stippled' paint effect by pouncing the wet paint. This allowed the painter to
achieve a more refined appearance. Another addition to the glass painter's
repertoire was 'silver stain'. In the early 14th century it was discovered that
applying a compound of silver onto the glass and then firing it would stain the
glass anything from a pale lemon colour to a deep orange colour. This discovery
revolutionised stained glass. Suddenly there were lots of new possibilities: for
the first time colour could be applied to the glass and controlled depending on
the firing temperature and thickness of the application. While the paintwork was
confined to the side of the glass that faced inwards, the silver stain was
applied to the outside face of the glass.

By the 16th century, enamels - coloured paints made from coloured metal oxides,
ground glass and a flux (usually lead oxide or borax), mixed with water and gum
arabic or lavender oil, and fired onto the surface of the glass - were available
to the glass painter. With such a large number of colours now possible on a
single piece of glass, a trend developed to produce large windows using
rectangular pieces of glass that had been painted, stained and enamelled (Figure
1). No longer was the designer bound by the strict constraints of
leading off each and every piece of glass of a different colour. This trend
endured until the early 19th century. Two artists who grew to prominence in this
period were the van Linge brothers, Abraham and Bernard. Abraham tended to work
the paint quite vigorously for dramatic effect, whereas Bernard had a slightly
softer approach to glass painting.

As the 19th century progressed there was a revival of interest in the gothic
arts and the majority of designers reverted to the medieval techniques of
producing mosaic stained glass, leading off separate colours. Different paint
techniques and effects were employed within these various design styles, and
were generally reliant on the media with which the paint was mixed. Historically
the liquids that hold the glass paint in suspension cannot always be accurately
determined, but from the styles of painting some educated guesses can be made
about the carrying liquids used.

A glass painter tracing on a light table
Traditionally,
the first stage in the painting process is to paint on the line work. This is
done using a thick paint mixture. The painter will lay the glass over the
working drawing and trace the line work onto the glass. Very often the traced
paintwork will be left to dry thoroughly for a day or so and then other layers
of paint will be laid over this line work and so the painting is built up. In
this procedure, it is necessary to add a fixative to the paint to prevent it
from lifting or smudging when the successive layers of paint are applied. Common
additions for this purpose are gum arabic, vinegar and sugar. Vinegar is
particularly effective and holds the trace line very well and it also aids the
flow of paint from the brush to the glass, allowing for some delicate tracing.
If the glass painter was reluctant to risk the trace line being adversely
affected by paint laid on top of it, he could kiln fire the trace line before
any further painting.

Detail of some Kempe paintwork from one of the North aisle windows at
All Saints Church, Leighton Buzzard

The successive
layers of paint (known as matting paint) are usually mixed in a water and gum
arabic medium. Varying the amount of gum allows differing effects to be
achieved. Kempe, for example, would apply quite a dense layer of matting paint
over all of the glass, then use the badger brush to give the paint a heavy
stipple. This would then be worked using hog's hair brushes and needles to
remove paint from the highlighted areas. Frequently the needles would not only
remove the matting paint but also scratch into the trace paint, giving a lot of
contrast to the artwork and producing a crisp effect. In contrast, John Hall &
Sons would use a slightly tighter stipple and their glass painters employed
minimal use of hog's hair brushes when painting heads, hands and feet. Instead
they would predominantly use needles to laboriously remove the paint where it
wasn't wanted. This gave very precise effects on the flesh tones. When they came
to paint the drapery, however, they would almost exclusively use the hog's hair
brushes.


Detail of some Clayton & Bell paintwork from the Chapel Studio
collection

In several of
the Victorian studios, glass painters used their hands to rub the stippled paint
after it had dried so that the paint began to loosen and pores opened up on the
paint surface. This loosened paint was then worked with hog's hair brushes.
Varying the weight of paint, the gum content and the coarseness of the stipple
would all have varying effects on the size of the pores that developed under the
pressure of the hand rub. Many Clayton & Bell windows were characterised by a
delicate, controlled opening up of the paint under hand pressure, an effect
achieved by using a wet loose stipple, medium weight of paint and medium/heavy
gum composition. To increase and deepen the soft dappled effect the same matting
process was done on the back of the glass. In contrast, many painters of the
Arts and Crafts movement such as Christopher Whall and Carl

Detail of Christopher Whall's paintwork from the tower window, Church of
the Holy Cross, Sarrat

Parsons would
use a denser matting paint with a heavier gum content. This was then rubbed
vigorously to create pronounced textures in the paint, which were then further
worked using hog's hair brushes, quills and needles. This paint style, combined
with the rich antique glasses used in the Arts and Crafts period, resulted in
some very free, expressive and at times dramatic stained glass. To convey the
desired effect to the glass painter these designers tended to draw up their full
sized cartoons (working drawings) on textured cartridge paper using charcoal
which gave some similar effects to the paint style.

Many of the
Victorian studios would not restrict themselves to just one trace paint and one
layer of matting paint. Sometimes they used a vinegar trace overlaid with two
water and gum arabic matts (the second matt just starting to lift and blend with
the first matt) and then a lavender oil matt laid over the top of the two water
matts. Few glass painters employ such a bold and confident attitude to glass
painting these days, and with modern kiln technology and relatively rapid firing
times consider it safer and more expedient to fire the glass at the various
in-between stages.

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Glass Painting Traditions of India is one of the most refined art forms, which emerged in the state of Gujarat in the beginning of the 18th century. Chinese artists who had settled in the region influenced the local traditions of producing glass paintings. Glass paintings, comprised of engraving laid down on the back of the glass and were painted from the reverse. The glass paintings were noted for their sheer brilliance, stunning clarity and use of rich colors.