Acrylic Glass Paints: The Struggle To Cover

Starting The Window

A few months back some friends, who were remodeling their front and back yards, found an old window frame from the time their 50's modern home was built. Three panes wide by four high I could tell at a glance this would present a challenge.  While the putty was falling out, the glass was good as was most of the frame. I would paint the glass and they could deal with the putty something I have never mastered. Here it is as I started it:

I can hear some of you now but once the panes are done, and this is the back, putty and a new coat of paint can be applied. It just might be a fun piece to have in your own private garden.

The challenge though, for me at least, is the coverage of glass centric acrylic paints. It doesn't. Two or three coats may make it on a wine glass but not on 12 - 10 ½" x 10 ¾" panes that are trying to tell a garden story as you move from pane to pane.

Because I have chosen a front and a back I can't begin to tell you the number of mornings I have woken up with some new realization. Details go on first, then the next layer and if it is necessary the last layer. I am restricting myself to three detailed layers. Considering I have never done this before that is pretty ambitious.

Adding Color 

My frustration has been the paint coverage or lack of it. Spent several hours this morning watching YouTube videos and my conclusion is good luck. They didn't do any better than me. Many of the videos are English and I have never heard or seen the products they are talking about.

As you can see here with my sun, the yellow and reds are struggling to cover the glass. I am using DecoArts Satin acrylic paint.

It really needs to be hand stirred before using it. It doesn't blend well when shaken and while the colors are amazing you have to really work to get the coverage you want. I drag up the stirrer and use that paint.

I have wondered about this trend of new acrylics that will work on anything. Its really like the saying they're the "jack of all trades and masters of none." One YouTube video even compared brands but other than the Martha Stewart brand, I hadn't heard of one and DecoArt had already changed their paints. There really wasn't a clear cut winner. If you can't find it, what difference does it make, right?

Oil based paints of my childhood didn't seem to have any problem covering glass. If anything it was a bit too robust. After painting several houses, the one job we all hated was scraping the paint off the glass. Today we want the paint to stick on the glass. Go figure.

I will keep you informed of my progress. If you have done something like this and found a way to master getting paint on glass I would truly love to hear from you!

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