Glass painting - Enamels 2
Find out about several different application methods of glass painting
with enamels.
How do I apply glass enamels?
There are several ways of painting with enamels. You can apply the enamel by hand, spray, silkscreen print, or sieve the enamels on. The method you choose depends on the end result you're looking for.
This might look like wallpaper, but it’s actually blue enamel screen-printed on to float (window) glass. If you’d like to learn more techniques about painting on glass, I’ve written Glass Painting Tips, just for you!
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Painting glass by hand
The world is your oyster here! As with traditional stained glass painting, you can apply glass enamels with brushes, sponges, screwed up paper, stencils, potato prints – anything that gives you the texture that you're looking for.
As with any of these techniques, you need to practice before you can begin to feel confident and consistent with your results.
Mix the one part enamel with two parts of either water, oil or a water-based medium into a creamy consistency with a palette knife.
The enamels will show brush strokes, so its best to capitalise on this by choosing a soft brush which holds lots of paint, and apply with swift confident strokes. This needs practice!
Traditionally the paint is washed on with a mop and whipped with a badger brush. Repeat this several times, firing in between, if you wish to intensify the colour of your painted glass.
Sieving enamels
The enamels can be applied dry, either freehand with a sieve, or you can make a stencil from thick paper or mask out areas of the glass before sieving over with dry enamel. You can also draw patterns into the dry enamel with a stick or other blunt instrument.
Wear a mask, as dry enamel is particularly dangerous.
Spraying stained glass paint
This is a good way to create a flat coloured piece of painted glass that can be treated like a flashed glass after firing – you can etch or sandblast the colour off as you wish.
The enamel is mixed to a single cream consistency with a water-based medium, before being sprayed on to glass that has been thoroughly cleaned.
Silk screening paint
This is a good method for achieving a flat coloured area of enamel, or for printing photographs, drawings and text. If you want to repeat an image, applying paint via silk screen printing is for you.
Glass painting with enamels - tips
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