Painting on glass is fun and rewarding. Have you ever been mesmerized by the iridescent paintings on quaint church windows? You can now improve the look of your own home with similar glass art. There is no limit to the glass objects you can paint. Brighten up a dull corner with a piece of glass painted with vibrant colors, personalize glass bowls and tumblers to match the theme of your party and spruce up the dinner table, stun your guests by serving them drinks on glass trays painted with interesting patterns. Recycle old glasscontainers by painting them and turning them into objects of art. Paint your windows and see passers by appreciate the glass panes catching the sun and reflecting the rays in myriad hues. The possibilities are endless.
It was difficult to paint on glass before, mainly because it was hard to bind the paints with the glass. Today a wide variety of paints are manufactured especially for painting on glass. These can be water-based or oil-based. While the oil-based paints are more glossy and iridescent, water-based paints are easier to handle. So a beginner would do well to start off with a water-based paint and go on to using the solvent based paints once they learn the ropes of painting on glass.
The paints may be opaque or translucent. Opaque paints are better suited for conventional patterns like figures and still-life. The translucent variety on the other hand gives an enchanting, shimmering quality to the paintings and are thus typically used for making sun-catchers. You can begin your glass painting project with any type of paint, but make sure not to use both varieties in the same painting. Each variety of paint has its own texture that do not gel well together.
Glass liners are available, conveniently packaged into tubes. These come in a variety of shades - black, brown, silver, green, and golden, but a black liner is recommended. It gives a clear definition to the outlines making the paintings really stand out. The liner or liquid lead is a thick paint that gives the appearance of leading used traditionally in stained glass artworks. It also restricts the flow of paint on the surface of the glass, preventing different shades from getting mixed up.
Requirements:
- A clean piece of glass, of the desired size. For a first-timer, a square piece of size 8X8” is perfect
- Glass liners
- Glass paints
- Paintbrushes
- Painter's tape
- Nail-polish remover
- A soft piece of cloth
- Printed designs or stencils, or any pattern of your choice
- Glass cleaning detergent or rubbing alcohol
Basic Instructions for Painting on a Flat Surface of Glass:
- Choose a pattern. If you are a beginner, choose a pattern having clean lines with minimum pointed corners and no intricate details. Chantal's website offers excellent patterns for free. You can run a search on Google and find many more sites that offer free patterns that you can print. Take print outs on plain white paper. If you have a design or pattern cut out from old magazines or calenders, you can get them resized at most copy stores to fit the size of your glass.
- Select a transparent glass pane. Do not use a printed or colored piece, the painting will be hazy.
- Once you select a pattern, copy it on to a piece of paper of the same size as the piece of glass, or a little bigger. The pattern must be drawn exactly at the center of the sheet. Leave out a margin of at least one-and-a-half inches on every side of the page.
- Clean the glass with rubbing alcohol or a cleaner. Remove all traces of dirt and then dry the glass with a piece of soft cloth. The glass paints will not stick to a dusty surface.
- Place the sheet on a flat surface and put the glass on top of it. Make sure that the glass and the piece of paper with the pattern on it are in perfect alignment. You can also trace the outline of the glass on the paper with a pencil. That way you will be able to quickly re-align if the glass gets displaced midway through your project. Otherwise you can use stencils with adhesive backings - stick them to the surface opposite to the one you wish to paint. Cover all the edges of the glass with tape to avoid scraping your hand while you work.
- Trace out the outline of the pattern carefully on the glass with the glass-liner. You can make your own lining instrument by making a cone out of a piece of plastic bag and cutting out a hole at the tip of the cone with a small scissor. But liners that come in tubes have elongated nozzles that are perfect for pouring out a thin, continuous line of paint. Squeeze the lower portion of the tube to ensure smooth flow of the liner. First squeeze out a small amount at one end of a line, then lift the nozzle slightly from the surface and continue squeezing as you move along the line to the other end. Use toothpicks to draw the liner into fine lines to fill out finer details. Avoid formation of breaks and bumps - work slowly, take as much time as you need.
- Take care not to smudge any part of the the traced pattern while working upon another part of the drawing. Start tracing from the top most part of the pattern and move downwards gradually. If you accidentally smudge any portion, wipe off the smudged portion with cotton-wool dipped in a little nail polish remover. Then clean the surface with a clean dry piece of cloth and continue tracing.
- Once the whole glass painting pattern has been traced, leave it to dry for about 3-4 hours. It may also be blow-dried using the hot air setting to hasten up the drying process.
- After the outline has dried completely, start filling it in with glass colors of your choice. Remember to mix the contents in the bottle by shaking well before you start using the paints. Some varieties of glass paints require an undercoating or a primer. Check the instructions before you start painting on glass. You can fill up the pattern by pouring the paint directly from the bottles through the user-friendly nozzles. But it will be difficult to go into narrow portions of your pattern. It is better to use brushes.
- Use one-directional strokes to fill in the paint. Avoid spilling, do not take two much paint. Mentally segment the pattern into different zones and concentrate on one zone at a time. Dark shades should be applied first. Wait till one zone dries up completely before starting work on the adjacent zones. Otherwise the color may seep through the outline, merge with the new color and ruin the entire work.
- Use fine-tipped brushes to fill out the corners and areas near the outlines, and small areas like eyes or lips if you are painting a figure. Synthetic brushes allow you to use more strokes, while natural hair sable brushes let you apply more paint for a smoother coverage. From time to time, lift up the glass and look at the painting from underneath, any unfilled portion will be visible and can be filled out. Clean the brushes immediately after use in soap and water or thinner, otherwise the paint will dry out and clog the hair on the brushes. Then dry the brushes by rubbing with a piece of soft cloth before you start using it for applying a different shade of glass color.
- Pierce with a fine needle any bubbles that may appear, or gently brush them on to the glass painting outlines and out of the painting. Then wipe off the extra color outside the outlines with nail-polish remover. The best thing about painting glass is that you can wipe off any paint while it is wet, and correct any mistakes you might have made.
- Never put two coats of paint on any one portion. It will stand out and give a very shabby appearance to the finished painting. If you have to apply two coats, wait till the first coat dries out completely. Then go over the entire area to blend the coats properly.
- Auxiliary products allow you to create many effects - use crackling medium to give a crackled look to the finished painting or frost medium to give frosted effects to certain parts of your work. You can thin the paints with clear medium to create washes or transparent effects. However, it is better to experiment with these accessories and effects once you have mastered the basics.
- Take care not to lift the painting up vertically while glass paints are still wet to prevent the paints from dripping. Once completed, leave the painting overnight to dry in air. Some prefer to bake the finished works to make the paints set in permanently, but you must be aware of the temperature that your piece of glass can tolerate before you can do this.
Voila! You have created a gorgeous glass painting - a perfect gift for that special occasion, or for adding charm to your own residence.
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