How to Paint Lettering on Glass

in this video i'm going to walk you through how to paint lettering onto glass in this step-by-step guide and stay to the end for a bonus including how to get great results using yellow stain on your lettering [Music] hey it's derek here and welcome to my studio where we help you explore the wonderful world of stained glass with tutorials artist interviews and inspirational videos if you're new here make sure you click that subscribe button and everything we mention in this video you can find linked in the description below so let's jump into it [Music] if you make stained glass windows you may find there comes a time when you'll want to add lettering to your glass artwork whether it's a formal inscription similar to the kind of thing you might see on a traditional stained glass church window or you just might want to add a little message or a friend's name or some cool text to your design i'm going to show you an easy way to make your own custom-made lettering and i'll show you all the tools and equipment that you'll need to set yourself up for success and get creating now i also want to let you know that we've built out into the description below this video a set of links to all the key elements that you'll need to get yourself started this is the stuff that we use ourselves to make our own lettering on glass so we know it's tried and tested and remember to hit that like button as it really does help the channel so the first thing you'll need to create is a template for your lettering this could be a freehand drawn lettering however drawing out lettering freehand is much harder to do than you might think and takes lots of practice a more usual method is to set out your desired lettering on a computer and print it out to the right size for today's example i'm taking what remains of a victorian inscription which has faded badly and with the help of some careful research we've managed to locate the original records of what the inscriptions actually said and so are able to reproduce them on computer once again i've chosen a font similar to the original hand-drawn lettering and spaced it out across the area of the glass that we'll be working on the new inscription is printed out to the right size and placed onto a light table next we choose and cut our glass to the correct size in this instance i've chosen a pale green glass to match the original glass as closely as possible here's a pro tip for you i've cut out a dark cardboard mask to block out the light surrounding the inscription area this little trick really helps to reduce glare from the light table and does help with visibility and clarity and the area that you're actually working in now that you've cut your glass set up your lettering and masked it off you'll want to consider the type of brushes you'll need to paint your lettering and you'll want to experiment with a few before you feel comfortable using your preferred brush i tend to recommend a selection of two or three good rigger brushes to help with painting outlines these rigger brushes come in a variety of sizes and i suggest buying a small medium and large rigger brushes get the name allegedly from when they were first used in oil paintings of tall sailing ships to paint the thin rigger ropes around the large sails nowadays in the world of stained glass rigger brushes are really useful for painting straight lines borders and of course essential for painting lettering remember links to where you can buy these brushes are in the description below in addition to a few good rigor brushes you'll also need an applicator brush sometimes known as a mop brush to apply the wet paint to the glass and you'll also need a badger brush to smooth out the paint once you've painted it traditional badger brushes are made with real badger hair and are an essential piece of kit for the glass painter used in a variety of ways the badger brush will be invaluable as a way to achieve smooth paint mats on the glass without leaving any bristle marks next you'll need to decide on the type and color of paint you'd like to use generally i recommend using a tracing black or a blister brown vitreous paint such as these roych paints you'll also need a mixing palette some gum arabic a spatula like this and a suitable mixing medium to mix your paint into a workable consistency water is often the best medium to mix your paint with measure out a small amount of paint onto your palette and spend a few moments grinding the paint down to a fine powder the next stage is adding a few drops of water to transform the powder into a thick toothpaste like consistency which is then mixed thoroughly and set aside with a cover i find a little ceramic bowl like this is ideal to protect the prepared paint from dust and to slow down the evaporation of the paint next clean your glass thoroughly with a vinegar-based glass cleaner and place the cut glass over your pre-made lettering template in this example the lettering has been scratched out of a dark background to reveal the beautiful green glass below so the best way to reproduce this is to paint a thin wash of paint onto the surface of the glass and let it dry here i'm using an applicator brush to apply the pigment in a broad brush stroke while the paint is still wet i then take a badger brush and carefully badger the paint to spread it across the surface of the glass evenly here it's very important not to put too thick a layer of paint onto the glass so you can't see the lettering below remember this is only the first layer of paint and when we have fired this layer we can add more to darken down the background areas and really make that lettering pop here we can see the thin wash of pigment which still allows me to see the lettering below and now we're ready to scratch out the letters using a small needle or in this case a porcupine quill again you can find these on amazon so check the links in the description below using my bridge which i lean on to steady my hand i carefully scratch out the guidelines which i'll used to make sure all my letters are the same height after this i'm ready to carefully work my way through all the letters scratching out the outline then removing the painted center of each letter once this has been complete it's ready to fire in the kiln as you can see now that it's been fired the thin wash of background paint needs to be beefed up a little and made darker by applying another layer of paint around each letter this can be tricky work and you need to take your time and just clean up any bits of paint which cross the lines and cover the lettering after this has been done you're ready for the second firing to seal the background paint now we're ready to add the final layer of yellow stain this type of yellow stain is different to regular glass paint as it's made of silver nitrate rather than iron oxide and needs to be fired on the opposite side of the paint detail so now for the bonus i mentioned earlier here's what you might want to try to help you get great results with yellow stain yellow stain is notorious for being quite difficult to work with and so it's important to do a test firing with the intended glass to make sure it takes the stain well i fire the yellow stain in a particular way to get the best results this technique requires you to have a stopwatch at hand i shall be firing the stain for exactly two minutes once it's reached the correct temperature of 620 degrees centigrade so mix the yellow stain with tap water to make into a smooth paste then add some more water as needed to make the paste into a paintable ink like fluid before applying with a brush fire in the kiln with the stain facing up so as not to contaminate the kiln shelf and for more information on this beautiful silver stain i made a tutorial all about silver stain which you can find linked at the end of this video so there we have it how to paint beautiful lettering onto glass i do hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and remember to hit that like button and subscribe to the channel for more great content and i'll see you in the next one [Music] you

Channel: Derek Hunt Artist

Views: 13,580

Keywords: derek hunt, derekhuntartist, glass painting, stained glass, craft courses, stained glass artist, painting tutorial, church art, public art, stained glass art, stained glass painting, silver stain, lettering tutorial, painting letters on glass, sign painting, glass sign, hand lettering, calligraphy on glass

Id: rSdycONinOY

Length: 9min 11sec (551 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 05 2022