Getting started with glass painting
Indulge your creative leanings with a wonderful way to transform your glassware from plain and boring to beautifully colourful and bright with glass painting.
Glass painting is easy to learn and difficult to master, meaning it’s great fun whether you’re a complete novice or someone that’s been developing your skills for a while.
Start learning the basics of glass painting and you’ll soon have lots of lovely works of art to add to your home or gift to your loved ones. If you’ve got a steady hand and a great creative flair, you might even find success selling your creations at crafts fairs or online.
Beginning with the basics
There are lots of different glass paints to choose from, ranging between the super simple enamels that are applied with a brush and modern markers that are designed to adhere to glass. It’s a lot of fun to experiment with the types of opacity, texture and rich colours the different kinds of glass paint can produce, but you might want to get started with a limited palette of a few traditional paints and one marker so that you can see how well you handle each type before making a big investment in materials. There are lots of craft shops available locally and online, but Hobbycraft is a good place to begin.
The great thing about painting on glass is the fact that you can turn boring jars, glasses and windows into brilliant works of art. Get started by choosing some cheap glass bottles or jars that you can practice on. Wash the surface with warm soap and water to make sure the surface is free of dirt and grease and dry thoroughly. You may also want to consider wearing thin cotton or latex gloves that will protect the glass from the natural oils in your hands. Before you start, you should be sure to read the instructions on your chosen paint, as some require an under or over coat to seal the colour in.
Get creative with glass paint
It’s a good idea to begin your adventure into glass painting with some simple designs. Try spots, stripes or flowers while you get feel for the paint. Soon, you’re sure to be able to tackle more complicated pictures and let your imagination run wild. If you’re looking for some creative ideas, Plaid Online has a good glass painting 101 article complete with pictures while this glass painting inspiration board on Bath & Beauty is sure to have you reaching for your paints.
If you’re finding it tricky to stick to the design you’re hoping for, you might want to try drawing it on a piece of paper first then applying this to the other side of the glass – effectively allowing you to trace the picture using paint. You’ll find some other great tips and fun ways to get stuck in at Craftionary, where Hani Shabbir has put together a list of 20 easy glass painting projects. Give glass painting a go and enjoy revamping old items and creating lovely new works of art for your home.
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