Creating Fake Stained Glass

In order to explain what a fake stained glass window is, we will of course start with what real stained glass involves, stained glass windows are decorative compositions made up of pieces of colored glass dipped symmetrically or asymmetrically and connected together by lead nets and attached by metal rods to the frame of the door or window. Stained glass can be mounted in the wood of doors, whether exterior or interior. The origins of stained glass windows are lost in history. The technique was probably derived from the manufacture of jewelry and mosaics. Stained glass windows, as we know them today, seem to have appeared with the construction of churches, the oldest dating back to the 10th century. The stained glass technique, which has remained largely unchanged to this day, was described by the monk Theophilus around 1100. The Gothic style with increasingly taller, but also brighter churches, used stained glass windows on a scale never seen before. The monk Abbot Suger from the monastery of St. Denis rebuilt the monastery church, giving us one of the first examples of the Gothic style in which stained glass played a defining role. In his diary, kept throughout the work, he expressed his belief that beautiful things raise man closer to God.

Starting with the Renaissance , stained glass was made using painted glass, as painting became more sophisticated, and new techniques discovered or rediscovered allowed the rendering of yellow and gold details. Afterwards, it was forgotten for a while or used only on a very small scale.

Cologne Cathedral - Germany (detail)

After 1800, interest in glass grew again in England, with the rediscovery of old methods of making colored glass. Americans John LaFarge and Louis Comfort Tiffany succeeded in creating opalescent glass of various colors, patenting it and then making wonderful objects that brought them fame.

Tiffany lamp

After the beginning of the 20th century, artists began to experiment with different techniques, with multiple new materials appearing. So today, stained glass can be made in acrylic, oil or special inks that adhere to the glass. There are also various tubes of paste available in the market that imitate the lead rail that separates the pieces of glass in real stained glass. Going further, you can even create decorative objects in your home from painted glass, such as lamps, candle holders or even painted glasses.

FAKE STAINED GLASS (PAINTED) on CANDLE HOLDER

Here we will illustrate in a few simple steps how you can and will easily make a candle holder, which thanks to the colors on the glass will give the room or any other area where you place it a particularly pleasant ambiance.

Here's what you need:

• A glass shape (in this case I chose a parallelepiped)
• Tubes that imitate lead rail – commercially available in several thicknesses and colors (there are black, gray, or even copper colored ones) – For such small objects, I recommend using a tube from which the applied paste is thinner;
• Glass markers (there are several companies on the market) – if they don't have an applicator, use fine watercolor brushes, preferably flat ones;
• Alcohol , or thinner to degrease the glass before painting on it – the paint does not adhere well if the glass is dirty;

Execution stages:

1. The first step is to draw the project on a piece of paper the size of the glass, which is then applied to the back, in this case on the inside of the shape in such a way that the painting will be executed on the outside of the shape. A very important thing to remember no matter what technique we use to work the stained glass, is that it must look good from both directions of view.

2. Drawing the outline – this is a more meticulous step and requires a lot of patience. If you make a mistake, it is a good idea to use cotton swabs to wipe off the wrongly placed paint. Be careful, the outline must be left to dry for a few hours before applying the colored ink.

3. Fill the areas with colored tissue, then leave to dry again.

4. Continue on each side of the candle holder.

Candle holder execution stages

You can also paint on glass with these special inks, but it can look like watercolor, thinning the ink with a special thinner for these colors (this is also available in stores). Its execution also starts from a drawing and I also use outlines to separate large areas of color, but I will let the colors merge with each other in some places. In some places I also used gold leaf. Keep up the good work!

Glass painting detail