Glass painting - Enamels
Find out about the colourful beauty of glass painting with enamels and learn some top tips from the experts.
What are they?
Enamels used for painting are made from ground glass mixed with
different coloured pigments and are applied to glass in a variety of ways before being fired on permanently between 520 and 750 degrees C.
As usual, the dreaded skull and crossbones icon tells us that painting with enamels is dangerous, so it’s a good idea to wear a mask and gloves, and not eat your lunch in the studio…
And while you’re either dying of starvation or being poisoned by dust, you might want to read up on some more useful facts about glass painting – and guess what? I’ve written Glass Painting Tips, just for you!
You can receive it by joining the merry band of ‘Cutting Edge’ subscribers who are regularly:
- informed about crucial time and money saving tips
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What do I need?
Enamels, water-based medium, brushes, palette knife, water, sandblasted glass palette
Top enamelling tips
Enamels used for painting can be either opaque or transparent, and can be mixed as long as you keep to the same type. The good news is that this enables you to create a huge range of colours – the bad news? You need to keep accurate records of the mixes and the firing temperatures of your colour tests, otherwise all your experimenting will be wasted.
You can apply transparent glass enamels onto sandblasted, etched or abraded glass if you want a semi opaque effect with more depth of colour. Alternatively, you can partially remove enamels that have been fired on by sandblasting, etching or abrading.
The best way to achieve a richer colour is to fire several layers of the coloured glass paint, building up the density as you go. If you apply the enamel too thickly it will crack in the firing or register as black.
For best results use glass enamel on pale or clear base glass – the colours are lost if you use a darker colour.
You can apply glass enamels on to glass that has been engraved first, or engrave into the paint once its been fired on.
Try experimenting by mixing the glass paint with different mediums other than water – gum arabic, oil or a commercial screen medium for example – to get different effects.
Opaque enamels designed for ceramics – onglazes – can be fired up to 850 degrees and can be used for fusing and slumping glass.
Find out how to apply enamels when glass painting.
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