Monday, April 27, 2009

Acanthocereus Pentagonus!!!

Acanthocereus Pentagonus is Cactus found in South Western United States & Northern Mexico having edible juicy fruit.

I have been thinking of putting up a post to showcase my work of art...how I do it...or rather Making of an Art on Glass. Some of my blogger friends had enquired about it & this is especially for all of them.

Here is how I do it:

1. First of all I draw my picture on a paper. Place it under the glass you would like to work on. The glass is usually bought from any glass shops giving the measurement you need depending on the size of the artwork. This is 29 cms* 20.5 cms...Small one. The glass comes as 2mm, 3mm, 4mm etc...4mm would be ideal coz 2mm though easy to work with has to be dealt with extra care as it can break easily.

The glass can be cleaned before you begin with a Surface Cleaner which is from Lefranc & Bourgeois. Three or four drops is enough, wipe it with a clean soft kerchief or towel.


2. Next draw the outline using a glass outliner which is available in different shades these days. Here I've used a silver outliner from Lefranc & Bourgeois...Cern'Couleurs Vitrail Argent Silver. There are outliners from Hobby Line & Camlin as well.


3. When that is done, you start your coloring. Here, I started with the inside of the Moon.
I have used solvent based colors from WACO. There are transparent & opaque glass colors. I always prefer transparent ones. Its wonderful to see its effcets. But when any transparent color is mixed with White...it becomes opaque.



4. Then I started working around the Moon. If you want the colors to mix you have to do it fast before it clogs. Else you have to take breaks in between so that the areas dry and then you move on. Here I haven't left much time.



5. Background is finished. Now comes the fore area.



6. I started with the cactus & shaded it immediately as I wanted it to merge a bit. I've shaded the green with white & black.



7. Then came the rocks. In all these colors I had to mix white with the colors to get the desired look. I painted the stones dark with white outline shading & painted the shadow grey.




8. Now...this is complete with the shading too.


I enjoyed doing it. Hope you enjoyed knowing about it. It was Fun doing this artwork as I wanted to share this with you. This is after signing my name which by the way isn't detectable!!! I have taken these snaps from my mobile. Being glass it always reflects something or the other:) I think you'll all notice it..sorry for that. Couln't help it:(



Now do try it out & let me know how you felt trying this out. I do hope that you all understood this 'Class':)
This being the basic..you can try this with however big or small glass or surface you want to. You can even try it out on sauce bottles or nutella bottles or unused glass dishes to practice.
Please Note that you have to clean the brush with white spirit or thinner. Else the brush can not be reused. The bristles will clog.

In order not to leave behind my hand marks I place a tissue paper under my hand when I work.
Happy Cactus Monday My Dear Friends!!!

Note: Pic ref from Google.


35 comments:

soulbrush said...

oh yes, i am going to try this, will e mail you about it....happy cactus monday fellow cactuteer, and are you doing some atc cards? can't wait to see them and swap!

soulbrush said...

btw did i tell you how much i love your new header? huggles to you my friend.

Aniket Thakkar said...

Thanks a lot teacher!

It was a great class. And I finally made it on Minday for once... to say Happy Cactus Monday to you. :)

Thanks a lot Mam.... though even after having such a good teacher, am quite sure am gonna spoil it all. :D

Amritorupa Kanjilal said...

deepa- how i wish i were as talented as you... but it was a beautiful experience just going through the steps with you.

and i've been meaning to tell you too. love your new header :)
its very you.

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

That is beautiful! Happy Cactus Monday!!!
CiNdEeS' GaRdEn

Debra Kay said...

I've been staring at the glass paint at the store for oh so long........I think the time has come!

Diane AZ said...

This is terrific, Deepa! Beautiful step by step of how to paint on glass. You make the process look fun and the finished work is gorgeous :)

Unknown said...

happy cactus monday Deepa! love the glass work...very interesting!

pammiejo said...

It's always interesting to me to see the different arts people create. Thanks for dropping by my blog and "yes" I'm a newby to Cactus Monday. I just happened to stumble upon it reading another blog. PAM

marianne said...

Wow! Amazing!
It looks fabulous!
Where do I get the time from......
Maybe later..........I can try this, but I enjoyed watching the process!
I love glas art!
This design is wonderful with the halo behind the cactus, kinda mandala like sun.

HCM!!!!

Peter Breese said...

What fun! Nice to see it develop. With just a little more time and older kids, I would do this in a heart beat. Bravo!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

This is such a great tutorial. It takes a lot of work to create one of these. Good job and it is quite beautiful.

studio lolo said...

What fun! I love tutorials.

And I'm loving the new loo of your blog!
HCM :D !!

Teri said...

Thank you for this wonderful tutorial!!!

As soon as I settle in I want to try it also.

HCM!

Me said...

Wow! thanks so much for sharing this...

I have always been a loser when it comes to art ;) but am gonna try this one in my vacation time...

Deepa Gopal said...

Soul
Ani
L'girl
Cindee
Debra
Diane
Messyfish
Pam
Marianne
Peter
Lisa
Lolo
Teri &
Harshita
Thank you All my dear friends.

What matters most to me is that I should be able to impart something I know to you...which I think at least some of them would've caught it:)

I appreciate the Spirit of Soul who has already started trying it out.Good going, Soul.

I hope my other friends would also try it out:)

Greener Bangalore said...

Hi Deepaz......thats a great work.....and all your works are....All the very best for a great future.....and Thanks for visiting and posting your wonderful comment....

Tomás Serrano said...

I love your top trees. Wonderful!

Printemps said...

I am new to your blog and I will be following it...

Pea said...

lovely tutorial..enjoyed it!!
I am always late ..every week:))But anyways HCM :)

Deepa Gopal said...

GB, Thank yo so much for your kind words.

TS,Thanks:)

Printemps,Great to have you here:)

Pea, Thanks dear. No worries abt being late..atleast you reach here without fail, every monday..HCM to you too.

Renee said...

That totally rocks, I love it.

xoxox

yoon see said...

Hi sorry to drop by late. Please forgive me deepa.
I really love your spirit of making art. Thanks for this cool step by step tutorial. It's so beautiful and uplifting.

I had bought glass paint 2 months back, still haven't really try it out. Good that you bring this to my attention. I will do one soon.

As for the explaination on to serve the tag on my page means i am tagging you to do the photo tag if you find it convenient. No forcing...He..He..some are camera shy you know!
I am just curious how you look like.
may I or not to know you better.
Or you can draw your cute pretty portrait if you are too shy.
Bye.
I am really tire now because it's 3.30 in the morning.
I can't stay up everyday like this.
Bye!

(P/S: Sorry for the typo errors, one thing I am just lazy to check what I type and when I read back...yeah, they are some mistakes. Pls. forgive me.)

Lynn Cohen said...

Ah the tutorial. I will come back when I have time to go slowly over each part. As I am very interested and it looks so lovely how it all comes together by your talented hands.
I am at work and need to get back to it now. HCM on Tuesday! ;-)

gma said...

Amazing work Deepa.

Caroline said...

I love your site, beautiful & inspiring! will try your lesson, great idea,
sincerely caroline

Deepa Gopal said...

Renee
Yoon See
Lynn
Gemma &
Caaroline

Thank you for your wonderful comments:)

BT said...

What a super class! I have often wondered how to work on glass. I may give it a try now.

Deepa Gopal said...

I am so happy that I could capture your interest in glass art. Thanks for your kind words:)

Mahesh Sindbandge said...

Hmmmm..cactus again..:P

First of all this cactus puts me wondering always.... :) :D

Secondly ..your art work is really interesting..

i am wondering what else do u do other than blogging, art work etc...?

Keep posting teacher..:)

Cheers..

Deepa Gopal said...

Mahesh, we've a group called Cactus Monday & all of us post something about cactus. Thts why this recurrence:)
Thanks for finding my art interesting...
Besides blogging...all the household chores & motherly responsibilities a woman is entitled to...the second of course makes me very happy..
Teacher!!! I was one before my daughter was born:)

yoon see said...

I still admire your little cactus here:)

mel m. m. mccarthy said...

Amazing! I love the colours and texture you achieved and that silver glass outliner. That sounds like something I have to try for sure! SO stunning! :O)

MRC said...

Liked this post so much! I have done a little bit of glass painting too, but I must say, my lines are NEVER as thin and even as yours.If you don't mind ,can you please answer two technical queries

-Are you using oil based or water based glass colours?

- How do you avoid bubbles while painting with a brush?

Deepa Gopal said...

@ MRC, Extremely sorry for the delayed reply...

Answering your two queries...

1. Are you using oil based or water based glass colours?

I have used solvent based colours in the one u saw. I sometimes use water based too but I like solvent based more coz of its rich dark colour when it dries.

2. How do you avoid bubbles while painting with a brush?

I use paint in small quantities... the brush should not be reused several times...and use a pin immediately to pop it up :)

Maybe there's some other way but this what I know. If you come up with something else, do let me know.