The eBook (electronic book) 'Glass Painting Techniques and Secrets from an English Stained Glass Studio' is written by two highly experienced painted stained glass artists from the UK - David Williams and Stephen Byrne. They have posted a wonderful 5 minute interview of them by the BBC where you can see them at their work:
Now for the book review itself...
The eBook covers a range of core techniques to get you started in painting stained glass items that are kiln fired. It is well presented in clear text with two columns per page, and its obvious from reading the eBook that these gentleman love their art because of the detail they go into with each technique as well as the highly descriptive and entertaining writing.
The book is arranged into six key areas:
- How to mix the perfect paint every time
- How to paint stained glass silhouettes
- How to shade and matt your glass for optimum effect
- How to trace
- Techniques of highlighting
- Painting with oil on glass
They take you through the tools you need and why you need each one, and they also describe tips and tricks, as well as any negatives about tool use. Their description of the tools isn't simply "you need a good wide brush" - instead they are quite descriptive e.g. "We also use many different “scrubs” with good firm bristles such as white hog-bristle." They also cover common questions and answers, common problems and give 'best practices' for each topic area.
There are clear step-by-step pictures in most sections showing techniques however what really tops off this eBook is the writers have supplemented the 130 pages with some great online videos. You get access to these when you purchase the eBook.
On the negative side if I were to nit-pick on anything at all then it would be my personal preference for spacing between lines in an eBook. But that is just me and very picky indeed!
And last, but certainly not least, is the excellent customer service from the two authors. If you have a question they are quick to respond and pleasant to deal with. This is certainly a key factor when you purchase an eBook because unlike a physical bookshop you don't get to flick through the pages to satisfy yourself it is really what you want - so when you have the authors willing to answer questions as well, it really does take away the 'I-could-be-wasting-my-money' factor.
As for price, it really is quite reasonable at $27.97 for 130 detailed pages. Overall, I would recommend this eBook to anyone wanting to understand what kiln fired painted stained glass is, how it works, what tools you need, and what the core techniques are. Then like all glass art, it's up to you and practice, practice, practice!
Where to Buy
Price: $27.97
Buy Now from the authors' website
