3 comments. First, I remain in awe of your writing talents. Second, it literally never occurred to me that the wash could go on the back of the piece as per the Whall quotation. And third, going way back to the first video (I think) I ever saw of yours, the one regarding the importance of the "lump" of paint, I remember being fascinated by how dry and unpromising it looked when first mixed but how it had magically turned into a very workable gell after simply sitting overnight. I have to confess that I haven't been successful in duplicating that yet but I wonder if there's some sort of slaking process going on, whereby what looks like a dry(ish) mound actually is trapping little globules of water that gradually soak into the pigment and binder particles over a period of hours. That might explain why I often ruin things by getting impatient and sloshing in more water until things start flowing, only to find that there's actually too much water to do any clean painting. Much to learn here!
Slaking is indeed a helpful idea: a surprisingly small amount of liquid - namely, water and gum Arabic - is required in order to create a paste.
Given the right amount of agitation by the glass painter - specifically, cutting and squashing - the particles of glass paint are forced to take up that liquid.
The particles of glass paint then join together into a lump whose texture resembles builder's putty, stiff mayonnaise, thick ketchup, toothpaste even.
It just takes a more-than-expected amount of effort from the glass painter to trigger that slaking process evenly across all the particles of glass paint.
Impatience is one of my massive failings too and your ‘sloshing more water in’ scenario is very familiar! It’s all about having faith in the process I think, which takes time to become confident with.
One of the most valuable and beautiful things I've learned from Williams & Byrne has helped me so much, in so many different areas of my life. "It takes as long as it takes." I wish I'd heard that about 40 years ago!
If anyone had told me about 10 years ago, before I first ‘met’ you both, that I would find watching a person mixing paint so absolutely fascinating and absorbing, I would have laughed him all the way to the nearest asylum. Since then I have watched you mix and revive paint in the videos so many times that I’ve lost count and it’s still fascinating and absorbing. And it works. Now I’ve just watched a whole week of you mixing paint and it remains amazingly hypnotic. I guess it’s a glass painter thing ;-).
On your other comment Stephen, I can’t imagine you being difficult to work with. Exacting, precise, focused, picky and a perfectionist maybe, but not difficult.
I am also fascinated to see/read that people in this group/blog are actual - if i am not mistaken - "professionnals" (i don't like the term) , i.e. people that have dedicated their lifes or alot of time to our craft.
3 comments. First, I remain in awe of your writing talents. Second, it literally never occurred to me that the wash could go on the back of the piece as per the Whall quotation. And third, going way back to the first video (I think) I ever saw of yours, the one regarding the importance of the "lump" of paint, I remember being fascinated by how dry and unpromising it looked when first mixed but how it had magically turned into a very workable gell after simply sitting overnight. I have to confess that I haven't been successful in duplicating that yet but I wonder if there's some sort of slaking process going on, whereby what looks like a dry(ish) mound actually is trapping little globules of water that gradually soak into the pigment and binder particles over a period of hours. That might explain why I often ruin things by getting impatient and sloshing in more water until things start flowing, only to find that there's actually too much water to do any clean painting. Much to learn here!
Slaking is indeed a helpful idea: a surprisingly small amount of liquid - namely, water and gum Arabic - is required in order to create a paste.
Given the right amount of agitation by the glass painter - specifically, cutting and squashing - the particles of glass paint are forced to take up that liquid.
The particles of glass paint then join together into a lump whose texture resembles builder's putty, stiff mayonnaise, thick ketchup, toothpaste even.
It just takes a more-than-expected amount of effort from the glass painter to trigger that slaking process evenly across all the particles of glass paint.
Impatience is one of my massive failings too and your ‘sloshing more water in’ scenario is very familiar! It’s all about having faith in the process I think, which takes time to become confident with.
One of the most valuable and beautiful things I've learned from Williams & Byrne has helped me so much, in so many different areas of my life. "It takes as long as it takes." I wish I'd heard that about 40 years ago!
Indeed! It’s something I learned during 20 years of restoration work and it was a hard lesson in the beginning, but gets easier with practice!
If anyone had told me about 10 years ago, before I first ‘met’ you both, that I would find watching a person mixing paint so absolutely fascinating and absorbing, I would have laughed him all the way to the nearest asylum. Since then I have watched you mix and revive paint in the videos so many times that I’ve lost count and it’s still fascinating and absorbing. And it works. Now I’ve just watched a whole week of you mixing paint and it remains amazingly hypnotic. I guess it’s a glass painter thing ;-).
On your other comment Stephen, I can’t imagine you being difficult to work with. Exacting, precise, focused, picky and a perfectionist maybe, but not difficult.
I am also fascinated to see/read that people in this group/blog are actual - if i am not mistaken - "professionnals" (i don't like the term) , i.e. people that have dedicated their lifes or alot of time to our craft.
The best quote for me : "Stay Weird". That i can accomplish.