GLASS-PAINTING.
CARTOON, OR DESIGNING ROOM.
PAINTING.
Of glass-painting there are two kinds, the one being known as “painted,” and the other as “stained glass.” In the former the design and coloring are produced by the application, to the surface of colorless glass, of transparent pigments of various colors, which, under the action of the furnace, become vitrified and incorporated with the body of the glass. In this manner of glass-painting—which is capable of none of the powerful and rich effects of color peculiar to stained glass—it will be understood that the process much resembles the practice of the picture painter. In the one case canvasses are used, and in the other sheets of colorless glass; the picture-painter using colors mixed with oils and varnishes, the glass-painter colors made of earths and metals, and mixed with a flux, which, under the action of fire, vitrifies his work. It is quite possible to produce a large composition, containing many figures and a great variety of colors, on but few pieces of glass. Indeed, one of the necessities of making a window of “painted glass” in several pieces, is simply to avoid the danger of breakage, in using sheets of too large a size. The various pieces are joined together with lead work of precisely similar nature to that which is used in the diamond “quarry-glass” seen in the windows of country cottages.
CUTTING ROOM.
GLAZING THE WORK UP.
FURNACE.
“Stained glass” differs from glass-painting in very many particulars. In this case the colors, instead of being laid on with a brush as in painted glass, are formed in the substance of the glass itself. This necessitates the use of separate pieces of glass for every color or tint required, and thus the process in some degree resembles that of mosaic work, a term, indeed, which is often applied to this kind of glass-painting. The first process in producing a stained glass window is the making of the design, colored or otherwise. This office is, of course, that of the artist, who is at the head of his establishment. From his design, which is always made to a small scale, the full-sized drawings or cartoons are made, by the artist and his assistants. When finished, with all details and colors determined, they are placed in the hands of the glazier, who cuts with his diamond the glass of the required shapes and colors, respectively, so that when his task is complete, the window, as laid out on the “cutting-board,” much resembles a child’s puzzle—each piece of glass, although often of the most complicated form and minute size, fitting with accuracy to the other pieces by which it is surrounded. This process completed, the next course is for the painter to produce on the blank piece of colored glass prepared for him by the glazier the various outlines and shadings, as represented in the cartoon, it being his business to take such means as will ensure the production of a faithful copy. This outlining and shading is produced by the use of a brownish or warm grey tint, which is generally used a little over all the colors represented in the work. There are some slight gradations of these brown tints used occasionally, principally when it is desired to paint the flesh shadows with some separate tint, but generally it may be understood that the office of the painter in stained glass is not to produce the colors, but by his brown shadowing to bring out the design and forms of the composition. When the glass, thus shaded and outlined, has passed through the furnace—where the shadows are vitrified—and been allowed gradually to cool, the glazier fits it together with lead-work, soldering in all the pieces, then the whole is made weather-tight, and the stained glass window is complete.