☆ Dummy's guide to Glass Painting ☆

This "stained glass" / glass painting project was done for my English project! I was largely inspired by the stained glass pieces in Kingdom Hearts. I had 0 experience with this type of media before, and so I want to share my process and some tips and tricks of making a glass painting!

1. Creating a design. I wanted to create something similar to the Kingdom Hearts stained glass designs, so I managed to find a lot of templates online! I ended up using this template. 
2. Buy some glass. I was able to go to Lowe's and have them cut the glass for me. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it in a circular shape. (If you want it in a circular shape, I suggest ordering beforehand!) A 32" x 28" piece of glass (which was cut into 24" x 24") only ended up costing $15. (Keep the scrap glass~ Practicing beforehand is CRUCIAL.)
3. Print your design to scale your glass. This step is awfully tricky and might include a little bit of math. (My teammate completed this step for me, mwahaha.) 
   -Using photoshop, open your design.
   -Select the "slicer" tool. 
   -You want the style to be on "Fixed Size" and that way you can edit the dimensions. (So if you're printing on Letter Size paper, you can have each piece to be exactly 8" x 11".) 
   -Make it work like a puzzle. Try to fit all the 8" x 11" squares into the picture. 
   -Once you have all your slices ready, "Save for Web..." and you should have your design all sliced up. 
   

4. Tape the design down and place your glass over it. Begin leading (a.k.a outlining!) 
   This step is long and tedious, and I recommend to practice, practice, PRACTICE! 
   Liquid leading is one of the types of leading you can use to outline your design. There are also sticker leading (but idk, l o l). I purchased Gallery Glass liquid leading, comes in black and gold! 
   [Tips on leading]
   -Don't have the tip of the bottle touch the surface of the glass! It will smear the leading.
   -Squeeze the leading for a bit, and drag it along as you outline. This will give you a cleaner line. 
   -Watch this video for a better visual. 
   

5. After the leading has dried, it's time to add some color!
   There's different types of glass stains, but my local Joann's only carried Deco Art: Glass Stain - Season Paint (I couldn't find the product online. qq) The packaging was small, and looked child-like, but it worked fine and was only $1.09! 
   [Tips on coloring]
   -Paint brushes are NOT your best option. Use something like a palette knife, where you can scoop the paint, dump it into the designated area. 
   -Swirl the stain around to prevent air bubbles! You don't want air bubbles! Once it dries, it look AWFUL. 
   -Don't overfill the designated area. Because the leading serves as a barricade, it will prevent the stain from spilling to other sections.
   

6. Done! Leave your art to dry.

   DO NOT LEAVE THE GLASS VERTICAL WHILE THE STAIN IS STILL WET! 
   Enjoy your piece!

Try shining lights through your finished product~ It'll look amazing!