Stained Glass Silhouetting
Stained Glass Painting – Stained Glass Silhouettes
Here’s where you can post your questions about Painting Stained Glass Silhouettes.
For other questions, please see here:
Note This: for main details about silhouetting, please see Part 2 of the stained glass painting e-book.
The Millpond Test
Cindy from Texas wrote to say her first silhouettes had blistered when they were fired in the kiln.
Sad as this is, it often happens: silhouettes are almost effortless to paint, and it is precisely the lack of effort that often perplexes people when they paint their first silhouettes.
The effortless takes time to get used to.
People try too hard.
Here’s a way of seeing whether you’ve used as little effort as possible. It’s the “Millpond Test” – a millpond is (amongst other things) a flat, still expanse of water.
And that’s the point. Examine your painted silhouette before you fire it. Observe how smooth it is.
Examine your silhouette before you fire it. How smooth and flat does it look?
Now there will always be some marks and seams.
As the thick paint dries, there will always be some joins and seams. But it's essential to make sure the painted silhouette is as smooth as possible before you fire it
Have a look at this short, silent video demonstration.
Watch how the paint just pours (and sometimes even drops) off the brush, then finds its own level.
That’s how, when it’s dried, it ends up as smooth as a millpond.
It’ll also fire without blistering: that’s the essential thing.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello Stephen,
I am a little bit surprised by this video. In the Chapter I have about silhouetting, you write “You absolutely must resist the temptation to shape the paint: just let it stop where it chooses to. Never ‘play’ with it or push it around ….”
I see that, in your video, you are moving the paint a little bit around.
Doing as you said in the chapter, I found it a little difficult to fill the surfaces, because as the “rounds” of paint were not always perfectly close to each other.
I see that it could that my paint was too thick, but, when you move it like on the video, it seems to me easier to get a perfectly closed and seamless surface.
What do you think?
Ivo
Hello Ivo,
Thanks for your question. I agree with you: the text should be clearer. Suppose the paint has only just left your brush. Then, yes, you can encourage it and nudge it and push it. There are two things to avoid.
First, in a very short time, the paint will begin to dry (even though it still appears perfectly wet): it is important to leave it alone from this moment. Otherwise, you risk creating an imbalance within the paint, and this is one of the main causes of blistering.
Second, it is important that you do not use your tracing brush “as if” you were tracing. When you trace, your brush makes contact with the glass. When you flood, the brush mainly makes contact with the pool of paint. So you use your brush to push along the top of the flooded paint that has just left your brush. This is just to say that, when you paint silhouettes with this technique, you must really have it in your mind that you are using your brush in a very different way.
Now I know that you appreciate the video demonstrations. As you say, pictures are worth a thousand words (and more).
And that is exactly why we want to continue making videos.
In fact we plan to move to a point where you will see and watch many more videos from us, and also hear a few bits of commentary – and then read a series of short, incisive commentaries.
Thanks for your comment and your support.
All the best from us,
Stephen
Dear Stephen,
So far as silhouetting is concerned, I would translate “To be or not to be … ” as “To touch or not to touch, that is the question”.
I thank you for this explanation. It gives me again a little piece of the big puzzle – which is, how to understand the behaviour of my paint.
It probably would have taken several years to find out myself. This tip/trick was very useful to me and also gave me other opportunities to learn more about glass painting.
I am also very happy with announcement that more videos are coming.
Thank you and my best regards to you.
Ivo
Hello Ivo,
Thanks for your comment.
You make an excellent point: namely, the whole “trick” with stained glass painting is to understand the behaviour of your paint.
We’ll write more about this, and also shoot a video.
All the best,
Stephen
Hello!
I have noticed that sometimes after firing it appears that my black has a slight look of silver when viewed at an angle.
Is there something I am doing wrong, or is this normal?
I was thinking maybe I did it on the tin side of the glass – would that cause this effect?
It doesn’t really look bad, but I’m just not sure why it’s happening. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Respectfully,
Cindy
Hello, Cindy!
I reckon this is likely to be caused by the top temperature rather than by painting on the tin side of the glass.
To test this idea, you’d need to paint a similar piece, and then fire it at a slightly lower temperature.
In general, the higher the temperature, the shinier the resultant finish. We ourselves prefer a shiny finish (which can indeed look silvery when viewed at an angle). But this is a preference not an absolute.
Once you understand the cause, you can then choose to re-create the effect – or not – as you wish.
Hi Stephen!
Now I understand why it was dificult to me to make good lettering. I used to paint – instead of flooding like you suggest – and it forced me to repaint and refire two or three times in order to have opaque letters. So that’s a good tip: thank you!
Carlos
Hi Carlos,
Thanks for your comment. We’re glad that’s useful. As I said when I wrote, please ask whatever questions you wish. And we will always do our best to help.
In the meantime, here’s a link to an article we wrote on lettering: it’s here – “Techniques & Secrets of Beautiful Glass Painting – Lettering“.
All the best,
Stephen
Greetings!
I’ve been studying your ebooks for a project I’m about to begin, and I am very excited to try your techniques.
My project will involve silhouette, shading and highlights.
I have my list of supplies together, but am a bit stuck as to what type of paint to mix for silhouettes?
I’ve read that oil-based paint (Reusche) is great for a rich, opaque coverage, but the instructions on silhouettes use water-based paint.
Ideally, I’d like to use water-based paint for the entire piece to keep my process as simple as possible.
For reference, my project design draft is here: http://www.adahliadesign.com/glass/window1.gif
Can you help shed some light?
Thanks so much!
Lisa
Comment for Lisa,
Hello Lisa, this is a very nice window and project . I am curious to see the window in colour when you have finished it.
In the mean time a lot of pleasure in painting it.
Kind regards
Ivo
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for your question.
I am so sorry about the delay in writing to you, and thank you for keeping faith with us in the meantime!
The design looks excellent, so we too are very excited.
It’ll work fabulously with water-based glass paints.
As always we’d recommend Reusche glass paints such as their tracing black (DE401) and bistre brown (DE402).
This is on account of the quality and also so that – since we use them ourselves – we can then advise you if and when you have questions about how these paints behave.
Now you describe the technique as using silhouettes.
That’s interesting.
I think there maybe an ambiguity in the terminology here, so we mustn’t allow that to get in the way.
For now, would it be OK if we kept “silhouetting” for those situations where, as in Part 2 of the e-book, you copy-trace, (maybe) reinforce, then (definitely) flood.
The question is, Would you do that here?
The answer is, That depends on the width of the lines.
That is, past a certain width, I’d agree it’s “silhouetting” (thus described), since you’d fill the lines with flooding.
But, under a certain width, I’d be inclined just to mix a thicker paint mixture on my palette, and pretty much paint the lines straight off.
By “paint the lines”, I mean – precisely – that I’d be the one who was controlling the paint and forcing it from the brush at the speed and in the density that I wanted.
(This is unlike “flooding” where the paint simply flows. And you’ve built up a pre-existing wall precisely to stop the paint flowing into areas where it shouldn’t.)
You might well need a good-sized tracing brush to paint at least some of the lines in this way.
So you might well be changing brushes as you went along.
I hope this helps.
In short: yes, water-based paints, the same kind you’d use for oil-based painting, preferably from Reusche – DE401 and DE402 for instance – but Reusche also has an absolutely gorgeous black-green grisaille which is 1205A, and it looks like grisaille that you are doing.
Please write again whenever we can help.
All the best,
Stephen
P.S. Please also have a look at the new site from where we will now be providing all the information that you and others ask for.
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