{"id":64163,"date":"2022-08-30T22:19:02","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T22:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/?p=64163"},"modified":"2022-08-30T22:19:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T22:19:02","slug":"tips-for-painting-pastels-on-glass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/blog\/tips-for-painting-pastels-on-glass\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Painting Pastels on Glass"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JRd2iXzT67s?autoplay=1&#038;mute=1\"><\/iframe>If you&#8217;re looking for professional pastel art from a master artist, please visit my website at www.pastel-art.com .<\/p>\n<p>This blog is an account of the steps I take when painting pastels on glass. It is a good way to learn about this kind of art, as well as to get advice on setting up your workspace and ways to experiment with different techniques.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been doing this kind of work for quite some time now, and am always open to feedback or suggestions. Feel free to leave a comment! Thanks for stopping by!<\/p>\n<p>-Kyle<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been painting in this style for a while now and have learned so much along the way. I wanted to share some information with others who may be starting out or are interested in learning more about what it&#8217;s all about.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Pastels on glass is a very different medium than painting on paper. It&#8217;s important to understand that there are different techniques and recipes for these two applications. The simplest way I can explain the difference is that on glass you need to use a lot more paint to get a vibrant color but if the application is too heavy or you aren&#8217;t patient enough, the colors can build up and form an opaque white frosting on top of the glass. This doesn&#8217;t happen when painting on paper.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 You will need to protect your work area from dust and other particles that might land on your work as well as protect yourself from inhaling any airborne particles (as much as possible). I used an overhead projector box for a dust cover, cut holes for lights, fans, etc and then covered it with plastic sheeting. I wore a painter&#8217;s mask and goggles whenever I was working inside the box to keep myself safe from dust particles. My particular workspace is still very small and I have only one electric light (a light bulb) so I have<\/p>\n<p>Being a glass artist, I love working with glass. In order to make the glass pieces in my art, I must work with glass-safe paints and mediums. I also have to have a clean, dust free environment to work in, as well as the correct tools to paint.<\/p>\n<p>So when I decided to start painting on glass, I started working on ways to create that perfect environment for my pastel paintings. It took me several trial runs before I got it right, but now that I do, it is so easy!<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to write this blog post because there are VERY few resources out there on how to successfully paint on glass. People talk about using spray fixatives and using oil based paints, which are both not good for painting your art. Your artwork will last longer and look better if you use the proper paints, mediums, and tools for the job.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the items that you need:<\/p>\n<p>1) Glass plates from Ikea or Dollar Tree (the Dollar Tree ones are better quality than Ikea&#8217;s) 2) White gesso 3) Oil-based white acrylic paint 4) Soft pastels 5) A craft brush 6) Palette paper 7) A plastic mat 8) An easel 9) A table 10<\/p>\n<p>In case you were wondering how to paint on glass, here&#8217;s a brief introduction.<\/p>\n<p>Materials:<\/p>\n<p>Pastels:<\/p>\n<p>I recommend a pastel medium and fixative (see below) or else using a chalk pastel which can be drawn using a regular pastel pencil. It is very difficult to get the dust-free, smooth surface of glass to accept pigment without some kind of binder. I&#8217;ve tried rubbing alcohol, turpentine and just plain water but they all seem to react with the glass in unpredictable ways. This is probably because there are different kinds of glass and some may be more chemically reactive than others. On the other hand, I&#8217;ve seen professional artists use sandpaper and scouring pads so if you want to go that route, go for it. I just haven&#8217;t had much luck with it myself.<\/p>\n<p>Glass:<\/p>\n<p>This will depend on what you&#8217;re painting in. If it&#8217;s a frame, then the glass is already attached and so you can just draw directly on top of it; otherwise you will have to suspend your piece from nails or hooks, which means that you have to be careful about not putting your hands in front of the artwork as it is being made because any touch will leave fingerprints for all eternity! Good lighting is also<\/p>\n<p>One day, I got a call from a lady who declared that she wanted to paint on glass. She had never done this before but was quite sure she could do it. She said the idea came to her in a dream. I suggested she try painting on paper, which she could easily frame and hang in her window. She said no, she wanted to paint on glass. When I asked her why, she said, &#8220;Because when the light shines through it and makes rainbows, everyone will be amazed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She called me back later to report that she tried it and it didn&#8217;t work. The paint wouldn&#8217;t stick to the glass. I knew from past experience that this is not uncommon with glass. In fact, one of the advantages of painting on glass is that it doesn&#8217;t stick! If the paint does stick, you can end up with a big mess because you can&#8217;t remove the excess and the paper will tear if you try to lift it off or if you apply too much water once you&#8217;re finished with your painting.<\/p>\n<p>I tried to persuade her that there were other surfaces where painting might be more successful for her but she was adamant about wanting to paint on glass. So I gave her some tips for preparing the glass and told her that once she had<\/p>\n<p>It is important to use the right kind of paper for pastels, as it determines whether the painting will be successful or not. The best paper for pastel paintings is either a medium grain sanded paper, or soft pastel paper. If you do not have access to these papers, try to find another kind of paper that is at least 140 lb (300 gsm) and has a relatively smooth surface.<\/p>\n<p>Cloth can also be used in place of paper. Cloth is more absorbent than paper, so you will want to stretch it first so that it stays flat during your painting session. After your painting session, you can wash out the colors with water.<\/p>\n<p>Glass painting is a great hobby. It&#8217;s a fun way to make art, that can be displayed in your home or office. Plus it&#8217;s very affordable, and you can make a piece straight from the heart.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand it can be a little intimidating to get started. There are different techniques out there, and choices you have to make when you&#8217;re painting every day. To help you get started we&#8217;ve put together some tips for getting started with painting on glass.<\/p>\n<p>One of the first choices you&#8217;ll have to make is whether you want to use oil pastels or chalk pastels on glass. While both mediums are easy to work with, they produce different effects and require different tools, so it&#8217;s important to know what they are before you begin.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a quick comparison of oil pastels and chalk pastels:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Oil pastels are made with pigments, chalk pastels are not. This means that if you want color in your pastel painting for glass, oil pastels are definitely the better choice. On the other hand if you&#8217;re looking for a more natural look, chalk pastels may be your best option.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Oil pastels have more pigment than chalk pastels do, making them sturdier and easier<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DZOmphhMb3Q?autoplay=1&#038;mute=1\"><\/iframe><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vmTjyZ5uR9c?autoplay=1&#038;mute=1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re looking for professional pastel art from a master artist, please visit my website at www.pastel-art.com . This blog is an account of the steps I take when painting pastels on glass. It is a good way to learn about this kind of art, as well as to get advice on setting up your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64163"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64163"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64165,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64163\/revisions\/64165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}