Glass Painting Basics

Series Summary

Arts and crafts today are fun, sometimes easy, sometimes complex pastimes that people usually enjoy at their leisure. Yet, centuries ago, craftsmanship was a way of life for many people who depended solely upon their particular skill to provide their livelihood. Working with one’s hands was an honorable way to make a living. However, with the advent of machinery, mass production, and the Industrial Revolution, the value of such skill was overshadowed by the lure of big business.

People have not lost their connection to such skills. Many crafts that exist today in some ways reflect an attention to craftsmanship and detail that echoes a pre-industrial way of life. Other arts and crafts are practiced by groups of friends who share a common interest. Still, some arts and crafts are favorite hobbies for people who like to work with their hands.

In this simple, fun, and free craft project idea, learn some tips and techniques for the craft of decorative painting on glass. You'll learn how to pick a design to paint on a glass jar, trace the design, pick paint colors and paint the design on glass. You'll also get tips for adding details and highlights to make your design really stand out. Watch these free videos and try glass painting today.

Video Transcript

"JASON PAINTER: Hi. I'm Jason with expertvillage.com and today, we're going to paint on glass. I'm going to go over some of the basic steps in finding the materials you need. Painting on glass is kind of a difficult thing to do. So I'll get the steps outlined for you really fast. That way you can get the things you need and make this a fairly easy process. I just went out to the garage and I found a jar. I'm going to make it--I'm going to paint a skull on here. My art box is all messy. So I'm just going to paint a skull on here, and put my art pens in here. First of all, you just want to make sure the glass you've got is--doesn't have cracks on it. It's nice and clean. You can see through it. This is a good piece. To start with, you need enamel paint, air dry enamel for glasses, and then you also need some permanent air dry enamel surface conditioner. And you can go to the craft store, the art store. Just ask--these are always together. They can help you find sizes and exactly what you'll need to get started."