Glass Painting 101

Recently, I along with a couple of friends spent some time creating a miniature glass painting each. We had a great time and it served as an inspiration for this blog. I have a lot of friends who have at some point asked me how to paint on glass and whether it is easy or not. The answer is YES, its EXTREMELY EASY and SIMPLE. So, this is a quick 101 if you want to try your hand at glass painting. I can positively assure you that it does not take much effort and almost anyone can do it.

Supplies needed:
1) A 8 X 5 glass frame
2) A bottle of leading liquid
3) Glass painting colors
4) An old cloth

Step 1: Choose a design and place your plain glass on a design that you’d like to print on. Now start putting the leading liquid on to the glass mirroring the lines and curves of the design. It is advisable to start from a corner and move down. Also, start with smaller lines first. Even amount of pressure while applying the leading liquid on the design helps create smoother lines.

If some lines are uneven, you could remove those lines with a scalpel-like tool and imprint them again.

Laying out leading liquid lines on to the glass

Step 2: Once the entire design has been created, allow it to dry for atleast 24 hours.

Step 3: Start coloring 🙂 The only thing to take care while pouring the colors is that you don’t want a lot of bubbles. If there are bubbles, use a toothpick to remove them. You can try mixing different colors to try out different shades.

Coloring after leading liquid lines dry out

Step 4: Allow the colors to dry. Once dried, invert the frame. A glass painting is always hanged the other way round. The direction which has the leading liquid lines and the colors go at the back and the imprint of the colors stay at the front.

Here’s the final result 🙂

Finished glass painting frame 🙂