Fast forward to 2018 and Plaid posts a video of Gallery Glass painting and my mind is BLOWN! I immediately ordered some then found a friend to paint with!
You start by choosing your picture. Plaid Crafts has some pattern collections. But I choose just to find some coloring pages. Either used a coloring book you own for find something online. Google "coloring pages to print" for some options, or for a more traditional stained glass look "stained glass coloring pages to print.
Then choose your surface to paint on. If you wish to create a window cling, you need a stencil form, glass, or a silicone mat. With these surfaces you will be able to remove the cling when finished. Or in the case of glass, when you get tired of the design and want to change it. If you want a more permeant option you can paint onto plexiglass.
We for our patterns, we used some printed from the internet and some from a coloring book by my friend Joanne Fink. Then place your patterns under the surface you are painting on. If you are afraid they will shift, add a bit of tape to hold it into place.
You will use the "liquid leading" to outline your image. Start by "touching" the leading to the surface you are painting on while gently squeezing. Then raise the bottle up around an inch or so. To get a nice round leading line, do not place the tip of the paint bottle directly on the surface you are painting allow gravity to do it's thing, and gently guide the bottle around. Around "corners" or when lines connect you will want to gently 'touch" down to secure the line in place then raise the bottle again to keep the round shape.
Then comes the hard part...waiting for paint to dry and well waiting for paint to dry is like waiting for paint to dry. It takes around 8 hours for the paint to dry completely. If you are impatient, you can use the redi-lead strips (pre-made adhesive strips of gallery glass lead, these can be used in place of the liquid and only need to be connected with a dab of the liquid to connect the pieces.) I did find it difficult to use the "redi-lead" on more intricate pieces especially ones that involved a lot of cutting, but loved using it for a uniform line around solid pieces.
When dry you can start filling in your Gallery Glass Piece with color. The colored Gallery Glass paint goes on opaque, but will dry clear. To fill in sections. Place the tip of the colored paint on the inside rim of the area you are filling in and trace along the entire shape gently squeezing the paint tube. This ensures you fill in the entire rim without any blank spots. Then begin covering the entire area. You can even mix colors to create a custom color or swirled glass look.
As you paint you will might notice air bubbles. You can use a toothpick, or skewer to gently pop the bubbles and then rake the pick over the area to remove the "bubble line." After the paint has dried a bit, you can also use the pick or skewer (or even your finger) to add texture to the paint to mimic textured glass.
Then you wait for paint to dry again. The amount of time for it to dry depends on how thick you applied the paint. Typically another 8 hours, but I have noticed it dries faster, in a dry, warmer, well ventilated room (and the flip side it naturally takes longer when it's humid out.)
I love the finished piece. This piece was on a glass frame I found at the dollar store. I put it back into the frame when done without the backing to allow the light to shine through.
A HUGE Thank you to Plaid Crafts for providing me with the Gallery Glass paints!
You can find all the Gallery Glass paint supplies at https://plaidonline.com. To find Joanne Fink's book, you can visit her site Zenspiration.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for reading! Continue to Aim Happy!