Glass paintings are very much popular artifacts that art lovers and many others like to collect. It makes use of vibrant synthetic colors on glass as a base. The overall appearance of glass and semi-transparent paints together provide a very ethnic look.

Glass painting is a special kind of drawing painted on the inside surface of transparent glass and is being executed with oil and hard resin or with watercolor and gum on glass sheets. A very different form of glass painting is the reverse glass painting wherein, engravings are laid down on the back of the glass, and painted from the reverse.

The effect is one of stunning clarity and rich color which usually ideally serving as a connoisseur's delight. Glass painting usually allows an expressive mix of form and dimension to be added to glass. Painters today are coming up with many fused elements in their paintings and offer contemporary glass painting designs on a variety of topics.

The decoration is done with a blend of sparkling light and the beauty of a glass painting is par excellence.

History of Glass Paintings

Glass painting has been a folk art tradition in the countries of Europe and North America from the 15th to the 18th century, and were regarded as a fine art in northern Europe, where they have been more recently revived. Traditionally stained glass painting referred to painting which is on the surface of a sheet of the glass to be included in a stained glass work.

This kind of painting, which is actually closer to drawing than painting, was done to add details such as faces and folds of clothing that couldn't be added with traditional lead lines. Glass painting was also used to cover up portions of stained glass works so that light was kept from shining through.

As 19th century progressed there was huge revival of interest in the Gothic arts and the majority of designers reverted to the medieval techniques of producing mosaic stained glass, leading off separate colors. Different glass paintings which have good techniques and effects were employed within these various design styles, and were generally reliant on the media with which the paint was mixed. There has been several innovations since then particularly in techniques of glass painting, which have both enriched and added to the variety and designs of stained glass that can be appreciated today.

Glass Paintings are drawn on a sheet of glass. Glass painting is similar to the actual drawing. To make glass oil paintings, the frequently used traditional glass paints are vinegar trace paint, silver paint, oil based stained glass paints. These paints come in various colors and are unaffected by the atmospheric conditions. Besides glass painting there is the reverse glass painting. It is an art of applying paint on a piece of glass and viewing the image by turning the glass. The reverse glass painting is very creative and great to draw. All it needs are thin brushes and minute workmanship to make an exquisite piece of reverse glass painting.