Share Painting Photos?

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 9:48 pm

Here are 4 pictures of student work. These are first or second day paintings. I think I have the artists credits right. Please let us know if I am wrong. In alphabetical order, Sharon Geraci, Karin (SP?) Groth, Deborah Bouchette, and Jennifer Lavigne.

12" square paintings on 6mm float glass made with Sunhsine Series enamels, fired to 1480ÂºF. Mostly #1544 slow drying water miscable medium and some #175 squeegee oil medium. The last piece might be cased between 2 layers of 6mm, I forget.

Jackie Beckman · Post by **Jackie Beckman** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 11:30 am

Maybe Jackie will post her painting she did with Paradise Paints. It was very painterly...and a good painting taboot.

Well, this is my first and only attempt with the paints, but some day I intend to play around with them a little more. Maybe when I have loads of free time . . . !! (so, maybe . . . never?)

http://dell.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67 ... 7305ee055e

Nickie Jordan · Post by **Nickie Jordan** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 12:24 pm

Bert -
The third painting wasn't done by me. It was done by the tall blonde woman in the class - I'll be darned if I can remember her name...
- Nickie

StaceyG · Post by **StaceyG** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 2:59 pm

Everyone - these are great. Thanks for posting them. It gives me a better understanding of what is possible with paint!

Cynthia · Post by **Cynthia** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 3:10 pm

These colors didn't come out of the box. The primary colors of these pigments are pretty darn close to true, so mixing is a dream and you rarely get mud unless that is what you wanted. All you need is red, blue, yellow (they provide a green, black, brown and two whites, a tone white which is good for mixing with, and a bright white, which isn't

)

Paradise paints mix like paint so color theory applies, whereas the others don't...yellow and blue don't make green with those...so you have to buy green.

I've never worked with the emamels that Bert works with, but those look pretty good too.

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 8:13 pm

Nickie Jordan wrote:Bert -
The third painting wasn't done by me. It was done by the tall blonde woman in the class - I'll be darned if I can remember her name...
- Nickie

Sorry Nickie

That would be Deborah Bouchette

Dani · Post by **Dani** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 9:07 pm

These are with Sunshines which are the ones being discontinued? Any similar results with the lead-free replacements? Nice look, but I'm not going to buy a sample set for $200, fall in love, and then be heartbroken when I run out of paints. No what I mean?

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 12:04 am

Dani wrote:These are with Sunshines which are the ones being discontinued? Any similar results with the lead-free replacements? Nice look, but I'm not going to buy a sample set for $200, fall in love, and then be heartbroken when I run out of paints. No what I mean?

That is what I understand Dani. The Samba series is very similar but totally lead free. I think Samba requires a few degrees hotter to mature. I haven't used any myself, yet.

I once used a lot of Thompson Enamels and then they pulled the plug on the lead bearing series. The lead free colors look dead to me so I never went back to their product.

Sunshine doesn't have much lead in it, so the differences are subtle, I believe. If you want to explore the colors talk to Wanda. She will probably direct you to get the Samba Series.

The colors are all mixable. I think they have computer programs with mixture percentages to match pantone colors if you need a particular color. The nice thing is that most of the colors look quite similar on the palette and fired in. There are a few exceptions to that rule, mostly the gold bearing colors.

Dani · Post by **Dani** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:09 am

I suspect that's why the Reusche black is firing out dull in spots.... I think maybe they messed with the formula and it has less lead than it used to. Or just some quirk in that particular lot. The Johnson Mattheys I have are lead and no-lead both and someday I'll get around to testing those again. The first try was disappointing, but I think changing the flux will make a difference. They cure at fusing temps, too. Yummy colors. That dreadful lead does make a difference in the look of the paint, that's for sure.

rosanna gusler · Post by **rosanna gusler** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 6:32 am

i e mailed wanda and she said it was summerday (or something like that) , not sunshine that was being dropped. how stupid to have such similar names. rosanna

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 9:40 am

rosanna gusler wrote:i e mailed wanda and she said it was summerday (or something like that) , not sunshine that was being dropped. how stupid to have such similar names. rosanna

Summerday is now Samba, I think. The Sunshine series has low enough levels of lead and cadmium that applied and fired properly, it should be food safe. The flux is lead and cadmium free, so a clear coat is the first mitigation. I have not had my glass tested, but one of these days, I'll send them some samples to test. I have them here, so I just need to do it.

I haven't tested Samba, but they should work fine as well.

lohman · Post by **lohman** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 9:50 am

Are the Paradise and Sunshine paints transparent? My guess is that various colors fall somewhere in the opaque/transparent scale depending on the color and temperature. It's been my experience that some colors can take more heat and can vary in their translucency depending on firing temp.

Dani · Post by **Dani** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 11:50 am

Transparency has always been the key issue with glass paints.... there aren't many and most of the paints that fire hotter are just china paints which tend toward the opaque. Transparency is essential when painting a piece that will be viewed with transmitted light like a stained glass window. If the paint is opaque, you won't see it, you'll create a big black dead spot in the window. That's why it's so important to design your black tracery lines to work with your lead lines... they are fundamental design elements. On smaller items like bowls, the opaque paints work fine on opalescent glasses. But a paint that works on the cathedrals... well, I haven't seen too much that is satisfactory to my eye. The opaque paints always seems to float above the clear glass. That's why I've settled for stick-lit black in my work. It's a predicament, that's for sure.

Cynthia · Post by **Cynthia** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 12:31 pm

lohman wrote:Are the Paradise and Sunshine paints transparent? ...

Paradise are opaque. Transparency for painting isn't so useful for me...but hey, I've done a whopping dozen pieces, so never explored trying a piece that was reliant on transmitted light. I took them to 1400 F or so to mature.

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 1:41 pm

I think I'm repeating myself here. "Opaque" enamels are a mixture of clear glass (flux) and colored metalic oxides. This yields a thin layer of rich color, which is why they are compatible with such a wide array of glasses. They look great in reflected light but not so great in transmitted light. Blue is the most transparent color and white is the most opaque. The other colors fall somewhere in between. Adding more clear flux will thin out a color. The different colors do have slightly different reactions to heat. Different series of colors are designed to take different temperature ranges. There are thousands of different products made in the enamel catagory.

The opaque colors work fabulously well on opalescent glasses. They also can be used successfully on clear glass. WIth a moderate amount of light coming through, they will glow nicely. With strong light, they die. The Sunshine Samba, Fantasie... series are designed as overglaze china paints. They happen to mature at fusing temps and are great on glass.

There are a few companies that make transparent enamels. These colors are all designed for the lower temp ranges, around 1050ÂºF. Blues will often take more heat, although the color will thin out when overfired. The Ferro transparent enamels are available in Germany but are not shipped to the USA. Hereaus will ship theirs here but require a 5 kilo minimum per color. Reusche and Fusemaster sell some here.

Paradise Paints developed a special oil based medium that makes their enamels unique. They now offer the powders without medium as many people prefer to use water miscable mediums. Their color selection is limited relative to the Ferro enamels, I use.

Brock · Post by **Brock** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 1:43 pm

. . . Paradise Paints developed a special oil based medium that makes their enamels unique. They now offer the powders without medium as many people prefer to use water miscable mediums. Their color selection is limited relative to the Ferro enamels, I use. . . . Bert

But unlimited, nevertheless, as you mix the colours to make the hues you want, just like oil paints. Brock

Dani · Post by **Dani** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:12 pm

Bert Weiss wrote:I think I'm repeating myself here. "Opaque" enamels are a mixture of clear glass (flux) and colored metalic oxides. This yields a thin layer of rich color, which is why they are compatible with such a wide array of glasses. They look great in reflected light but not so great in transmitted light. Blue is the most transparent color and white is the most opaque. The other colors fall somewhere in between. Adding more clear flux will thin out a color. The different colors do have slightly different reactions to heat. Different series of colors are designed to take different temperature ranges. There are thousands of different products made in the enamel catagory.

.

Keep repeating.... with endless patience. 'Tis the hallmark of a good teacher.

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:45 pm

Brock wrote:. . . Paradise Paints developed a special oil based medium that makes their enamels unique. They now offer the powders without medium as many people prefer to use water miscable mediums. Their color selection is limited relative to the Ferro enamels, I use. . . . Bert

But unlimited, nevertheless, as you mix the colours to make the hues you want, just like oil paints. Brock

Yes and no. Some colors are just not made by mixing, especially when you are dealing with metallic oxides, like gold for instance.

Brock · Post by **Brock** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:48 pm

Bert Weiss wrote:
Brock wrote:. . . Paradise Paints developed a special oil based medium that makes their enamels unique. They now offer the powders without medium as many people prefer to use water miscable mediums. Their color selection is limited relative to the Ferro enamels, I use. . . . Bert

But unlimited, nevertheless, as you mix the colours to make the hues you want, just like oil paints. Brock
Yes and no. Some colors are just not made by mixing, especially when you are dealing with metallic oxides, like gold for instance.

You could make a gold with Paradise paint, same as you could with oil paint. You obviously, could not make a metallic colour with either, unless you added something. Brock

Brock · Post by **Brock** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:56 pm

Keep repeating.... with endless patience. 'Tis the hallmark of a good teacher.

Patience is good, but it won't necessarily get your point across. If a teacher gives a demo, or a lecture, or merely tosses some pearls, and the whole class, but one, gets it, you know where you have to put some extra effort.

Unfortunately, people take classes for many reasons, a lot of them having nothing to do with amassing knowledge or technique. In those cases, patience won't make a difference.

There seems to be this misconception that anything other than total success by every student, is always solely the teacher's fault.

NAY, I SAY!!

I think that the next time we get one of those assess the teacher threads, I'll start one on students. That should go on for a while! I have a million stories myself. Brock