In the last couple of posts, we’ve looked at opaque and translucent glass, but can you also create transparent painted glass? The brief answer is yes! One of the strengths of glass as a medium is that it’s transparent. Painting the surface will reduce the transparency of the glass, but you can apply color to the glass while still preserving its transparency.

Transparent painted glass effect

If you’re aiming for a stained glass effect, it helps to understand how stained glass is made, and why transparent painted glass can be a cost-effective alternative to true stained glass.

Stained glass is also painted, using special paints. After the glass is painted, it is fired to achieve that transparent appearance. Most often, stained glass artists work in one color at a time, firing the piece after each addition of color. The finished piece could have been fired many times. This method of applying paint and firing is very labor intensive, requires special equipment and materials, and is really time consuming! It also makes true stained glass expensive to buy.

Glassprimer™ offers an alternative to true stained glass, that’s cost effective, uses common materials and produces a similar transparent painted glass result. Best of all, there’s no need to fire the piece, so you don’t need special equipment, either.

By using Glassprimer™ GP083® molecular activator as a surface preparation, you can use urethane paint to achieve a transparent painted glass effect and still get the adhesion properties you need when working with glass as a painting medium.

The Glassprimer™ GP083® molecular activator doesn’t convert the paint into glass paint, but it does sufficiently treat the surface of the glass to create the nanoscale bonding properties paint requires to adhere to the glass.

The surface preparation is the same as it would be when using Glassprimer™ glass paint. Clean the glass thoroughly with rubbing alcohol and #000 grit steel wool until it’s “squeaky clean.” Don’t use lint-free paper towels – just use the cheap kind from the store.

Once the glass surface has been cleaned, spray it with Glassprimer™ GP083® molecular activator and let it sit for 10 seconds. Wipe it off with paper towels and apply a high- quality 2-part urethane paint, such as those from House of Kolor. You’ll get a great transparent painted glass effect without special tools or equipment, and at a fraction of the cost of true stained glass!

Photo Credit: Derek Boggs, via FreeImages.com