Experiments – Fused Glass Paints

I have been experimenting with glass paints. First, let it be known that I am not a painter. I took a Tole Painting class back in the day. I did okay, but I remember I was so intense in my painting that my ears got hot and red! No kidding! This was not a relaxing activity for me. So painting on glass is probably not something I am going to do a lot of. The ability to do some line drawings or lettering, however, could come in handy.

First I tried paints from Glassline. The paints come in a variety of colors. I used the white and black paints. The white is a nice bright white. The black was a bit dull. The shape of the bottle that this paint comes in makes it difficult to squeeze with even pressure. I ended up putting it in a separate slip trailing bottle that I could squeeze easier. Once in the new bottle with a metal tip I could make very thin lines with this paint. When fired on top of glass, the paint had a matte finish.

The other paint I tried was Multipen. The bottle is round which makes it easier to control. It also comes with a fine point metal tip.  But even with the tip, I had a hard time getting thin lines. I may have to experiment with changing the consistency somewhat. The white was not as white as the Glassline paint. It was more ivory in color, but when fired on top of the glass it had a nice glossy finish. I haven’t tried the black yet, but I was told the Multipen black is blacker than the Glassline paint.

Regardless of which one I used, I got the best result by firing with the paint on top of the glass. When I fired with the paint between the layers I got bubbles. I even tried to prefire the painted glass and it still resulted in bubbles between sheets of glass in the final firing.

My conclusion is… the jury is still out. If I can get the Multipen to the right consistency, I think I would prefer it because it is easier to apply and fires to a glossy finish. I’ll have to do some more testing to be sure though.

Here are some of the pieces I made.

11 thoughts on “Experiments – Fused Glass Paints

    • Ellen Rubin says:

      I have been teaching my glass classes for 13 years using glasskine paints . You need to know a few tricks, but it is my preferred .liquid glass paint. First, after it dries it can be fixed up or scratched into as a design using a toothpick. Next , this is actually powdered glass with water as the carrier . It needs a good shaking before using . Sometimes it will be really dry . If you take the top off and it squeezes up looking like a tootsie roll , it needs to be mixed up with a Wooden skewer. Remember to get the paint out of the top cone as well. If after it is all mixed up it is still too thick, add one or two drops of water to the bottle and mix again. The liquid should be the consistency of thin Hershey’s syrup, not water or thick like peanut butter. If you put in too much water, just leave it open for a night to dry back out a little. Another thing to know is that it does give off a gas when fired for the first time. I usually fire it uncovered first. Then cap with clear the second time. I use regular tack schedule for one layer and tack or full fuse for two layers. It does have a matte finish when fired on top or alone I sift a thin layer of clear powered glass on top of the glassline before firing with one of those red glass sifters . It will give you a nice shiny surface. More is not better! If you sift too much clear power on your piece it will turn white and cover your beautiful design. Glassline paints can be used for stamping, sgraffito, finger painting, tye dye, and when thicker, silk screening among many other uses. Enjoy.

  1. Kara says:

    I read that when putting sheet glass on-top of your glass paint, to put stringer along the borders to allow minimal airflow through the gap during the fusing process… which should eliminate bubbles. Haven’t tried it yet… doing the research in preparation myself right now. That’s for the helpful blog. =)

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