Activity Ideas
Activity Packs
Craft Demonstrating
Craft Manuals
Glass Painting Manual
Memories
Teachers Sets
|
|
Choosing and using glass paints
How you choose and use your glass paints can
make all the difference to your projects. It's wise to know the
pros and cons of paint options before you make a purchase.
There are many manufacturers out there selling their products through
retailers and online stores, but essentially there are only 2 types of
paint.
First though, be clear that whilst you may choose to use glass paint on
ceramics, ceramic paint is opaque and will not give you the clear
transparent look you may be after. Some ceramic paints also need
to be set in the oven, and this could bring up some health and safety
issues if you are working in groups.
Once you've decided on the type of paint you are going to use you can
select the carrier: water-based or methyalted-based. There are
pros and cons to both and the final decision really rests of the
resulting look you are after.
Water based paint is widely used in schools and with groups as it is
more easily washed off hands and clothing, and doesn’t give off
fumes. The water based paints can be easily mixed on a plate to
get the right colour tone, though of course, you can't 'make' white
or black.
Water based paint flows differently from methylated-based paint, and,
is inmy opinion, rather thin. That means that you will need a lot
of paint to get the depth of colour you might be after. The
problem with this is that as glass paints dry quickly, any extra layer
of colour that you add, will look just that: additional, and it will be
possible to see where you have added it. The resulting colour
area will not be uniform as it would if you were to use methylated
paints.
Methylated-based paint, on the other hand is vibrant and rich in
colour. Again, the colours can be mixed on a plate to suit your
purposes. This paint however has 2 big considerations:
1. it is not easily washable (use meths. To remove any spillages)
2. it gives off fumes.
It's important when using these paints to ensure adequate ventilation
by working with an open window. As an extra precautions I always
keep the tops on the bottles for as long as possible. Your paint
brushes will need to be washed in meths too rather than water. I
decant fresh meths into an individual serving jam jar + lid.
Don';t worry if the colour changes as you clean your brush. The
meths is still effective as a cleaning agent. Just make sure the
brush is wiped off on kitchen paper before inserting back into a new
colour.
You can build up a deep colour with this paint by loading your brush
and pushing, rather than brushing the paint between your
outlines. Brushing out too small an amount of paint can leave
'thin areas' on our glass, mirror or acetate. If this dries,
before you have seen it, again, this paint is more forgiving, allowing
you to add another layer of paint to increase the vibrancy/depth of
colour.
If you can, push the paint to lie within your outline like a raised
(convex) mound. When it dries the colour will be fuller than if
you had brushed out the colour. This is one of those crafts where
being generous with the materials will make a difference to the result.
Do though weigh up the fumes factor and be aware of any susceptible
indivduals who may be prone to asthma or bronchial difficulties.
If possible I try to do my painting sessions in a little used room, and
better still, confine these activities to the afternoon, allowing any
fumes to dissipate overnight.
At the end of the day, the choice is yours and hands-on use with a
variety of products will help you make the decision right for you.
=====================================================
Geraldine Jozefiak is passionate about
crafts and their place in education. Be part of raising standards in
teaching and learning by using the best possible craft instructions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking for
craft
projects, books, teaching manuals or courses? Need ideas on what
to teach and how to teach it?
"The Craft Teacher" can save you time and stress in teaching and
learning crafts.
Click Here => http://www.the-craft-teacher.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Attention
Ezine
editors and Site owners**
Please feel
free to
reprint this article as long as you leave the article complete, with
all the links in place. Do not change the content and include the
resource box above.
We would appreciate a note of your use so that we can have a
look. Thank you.
|
|
