Tole painting
on glass produces one-of-a-kind objects.
Tole painting is a form of folk art decorative painting that comes from Germany and Scandinavia. Although usually done on tin and wood, tole painting on glass produces a distinctive effect. Artists paint objects, such as birds or leaves, using only one brush stroke.
Instructions
1. Look for an interestingly shaped piece of glass on which to tole paint. Consider using a bottle, a glass, or even an old mirror. Clean the glass thoroughly using a mild dish-washing soap, or run the glass through the dishwasher. Let the glass dry.
2. Look in magazines for ideas on what to paint.
Browse in magazines for inspiration or refer to books or websites for traditional tole painting designs. Plan your method of application. Paint the design on the glass freehand, outline it first using a marker, use a stencil, or print the design on a piece of paper and put it under the glass as a template.
3. Obtain your paint type and colors. Tole painting is usually done with oil paint, but acrylic paint dries more quickly and is easily cleaned up with soap and water. You can also use special glass paints which give a stained glass effect. Select your range of colors according to the design you will paint and decide whether you want a transparent or opaque look to the glass.
4. Experiment with different shapes of brushes.
Gather your brushes. For oil paints, you will need natural bristle brushes. Natural or synthetic brushes are suitable for use with acrylic and glass paints. Select different shapes of brushes for varied effects. Consider a detail brush and fan, square and round brushes.
5. Practice the different brush strokes that make up the tole painting process, using the artist pad. For each of the six brush strokes--teardrop stroke, comma, C stroke, S stroke and the half-circle stroke--practice loading the brush with paint and pulling it smoothly and evenly toward you to produce the desired mark. Lift the brush slowly at the end of the mark while it's still moving. The Tole Expressions website has an excellent tutorial on this.
6. Practice double- and triple-loading with brush with different color paints once you've mastered the basic strokes. This will give shading and depth to your painting.
7. Prepare your stencil or printed design by ensuring that they are a suitable size and shape for your object. Outline the design on the glass if needed.
8. Paint the design. For true tole painting, use only the six different brush strokes that you have practiced.
9. Set and dry the paint. Bake the glass at the recommended temperature and time if you used glass paint. Put the glass aside to dry for several days if you used oil paint. Acrylic paint dries in a few minutes.
