Stain Glass Painting

Vinegar Trace paint

This paint is dark and is used to completely block out the light. It is used for figure and design lines. It is mixed with water and vinegar and gum Arabic. The latter helps it stick to the glass. This paint is applied on wet glass using a wet brush. Once the paint is dry, it is scraped or scratched to give the painting texture and depth. After firing, it becomes shiny.

Matt Paint

This paint is used for filling in backgrounds and adding shadows. It uses a base of water mixed with either gum Arabic or vinegar. It is fairly easy to use and can be applied thinly or thickly, and may be blended as well to achieve interesting textures. This paint is normally applied over tracing paint, as it is more transparent.

Silver stain

This paint is usually used to add accent color. It is called so because of the presence of silver nitrate in it. After firing, this paint turns golden, not silver.

Oil-based stained glass paints

These paints use an oil-turpentine base. They come in more colors than the other paints, are relatively easier to work with, and remain unaffected by general atmospheric conditions. Their major disadvantage, however, is that they are not very consistent in application. Not only do they not mix easily or thoroughly, they sometimes donot fire evenly either.

The Themes of Stain Glass Painting

These are many and varied. Karishma Bajaj, a noted Indian author, aptly sums them up: “The patterns that one can create on glass could be something that represents nature such as birds, animals, insects, flowers, trees; an entire scenery like the countryside, a village, etc. Then one can work on people and situations. For instance it could be a glass painting of a well-known public figure. Most Indian glass artists prefer ethnic and traditional themes such as paintings of the Gods and Goddesses, etc.”