Stained Glass Cross, COMPLETED, Day 32 (5)

First of all, it has NOT taken me thirty-two days to finish this project! Well it Has, but while thirty-two real time days have gone by, I have only worked on this from start to finish, for about 10 hours (stretched out over five sessions). It looks nice, don't you think?
I have started another one like it, as i have the glass, and i think they might sell, or make a nice gift.
I am going to add rings to the top of this panel and loop a wire through the rings for hanging, but otherwise, this panel is DONE.

Glass Cross Panel, Day 26, (4)

Back again after a long break. Have about 5 hours in the piece so far, but it is ready to solder. All the pieces have been individually cut and fitted to the pattern and foiled. The next step is to solder. 26 days have elapsed since I started this project, but this is only the fourth night I have worked on it.

Glass Cross Panel, Day Ten (3)

It has been over a week since I last posted. this is the first opportunity I have had to resume work on this piece. The glass squares have been cut, copper foiled and fitted into the frame. This was the very easy part. It took two hours to get this far. These pieces were merely measured out and cut with my Morton Glass cutting system, using a straight edge and guides. All the pieces were pretty uniform this way and only minimal fitting and grinding was required. All the pieces from here out will need to be traced, cut and fitted. A little more work, but not too much more, I think.

Glass Cross Panel Day Two

Have made the start. No glass cut yet, but everything else is now ready, as these photos show. I printed out and numbered the template - (photo 1). I then organized my glass - (photo 2). I thought I had a purple piece, to alternate with the dark blue, but I do not. I am going to use the light and dark blues to contrast the red, yellow, orange and green. Thirdly, I cut the template into individual pieces - (photo 3). I will use these to trace on the glass and cut out. Finally, I set up the assembly area - (photo 4). All the fitting work as well as the soldering will take place here. the frame holds the pieces into a rctangle shape, and the pattern will be used to fit the finished pieces.

New month, New project Day One

I have a design for a stained glass panel I want to to. It is a cross with lilies. The piece will be avalable for sale after its completion. As envisioned, the cross will have a yellow center that will blend out to red. The background will be contrasting blue and purples. The lilies will be of a varigated green and white. The whole piece will be approximately 11 x 15. I have printed out the paper template and will begin work on it tomorrow. I have no idea how long it will take, but will use this project as a guide for future time estimation.

Day One Hundred and Nine Completed!!

This project is DONE!!! Panel three was completed this afternoon. Here is a combined-via-photoshop photo of the completed work. It has been a long journey, but the end has been reached. I will try to get better photos of the pieces and show more details in the next day or so. Unfortunately, I have no place to display the pieces as they are meant to be... in their diamond form, so I am forced to just keep them side by side. but someday, I will hang them properly.

Day One Hundred and Eight

Have worked sporadically on Panel Three, and have it about 3/4 done. Should be able to finish it tomorrow if all goes well.

Day One Hundred and Four - Panel Two Completed

Panel Two is completed. Here is the final photo. I have also photoshopped the two panels together. I will add the third as soon as it is done.

Day One Hundred and Two

Try as I might, I did not finish Panel Two tonight, but have only a little more to go. Filled in more highlight on the outer frame. The little white block in the lower left corner is for my signature.

Day One Hundred and One

Finished the highlight on the knotwork on the second panel. Just have the frame to do and this one will be done. the highlight is really hard to see against the yellow, but it is there and looks nice. Some highlight can be seen already on the blue framework. It makes the entire design "pop".

Day Ninety-Nine Panel One Completed

It is with great delight that I can say this day that panel One is finished! I had to enhance the black a little in the picture, because I could not get a clear shoot without glare. My plan is to dull all three panels down with a Matte spray to reduce glare and make them appear uniform. I will do this when they are all done. (What I probably should have done was to mix in a flatting agent into my black to eliminate the shine as I was painting these, but sometimes the ideas come too late. Now on to Panel two.

Day ninety-eight

Finished all the highlight on the red knotwork on Panel one. It really stnds out now. Just the outer frame highlight and this one is done.

Day ninety-seven

Although I have not blogged in two days, I have not been inactive. I finished all the black on panel One and now all three can be seen togther. I have also begun the white highlight on panel One as can be seen in the detail photo. It is all nearing completion. I can see them done in my mind and wish I could move a thousand times faster to make my hands catch up!

Day Ninety-five

Finished all the black around the knotwork and started on the outer frame.

Day Ninety-four

Made excellent progress today. Almost all the knotwork area is filled in with black.

Day Ninety-two

Laid down more black today on panel One. I am starting to see the end, albeit distantly. I do believe that this panel will be the best of the three. The colors are going to be fantastic once the black is finished.

Day Ninety-one

Made a lot of progress today. I finished all the shadowing as well as the rework of the knotwork, and made a good start on the black fill. The new photo shows the progress made.

Day Ninety

Shadowed more of the red knotwork on Panel One. Discovered a small setback that involved a reworking of the knotwork, but am back on track. Will have a good progress photo tomorrow. stay tuned

Day Eighty-nine

All the black work is done on panel Three now. All that remains on this piece is the highlight. here are the latest photos.

Day Eighty-eight

Made more progress on the black on panel three. One more session should finish the black up.

Day Eighty-six

More black fill tonight, but nothing that would clearly show up in a photo. So no photo tonight. I hope to make a substantial push tomorrow.

Day Eighty-five

Quite a bit of progress made today, as can be seen by the new photo. the black is shiny and splotchy looking because the paint is still very wet.

Day Eighty-four

Made a lot of progress today. Started on the outer framework. The photo shows the progress over yesterday. I am painting all from one direction for now, then will flip the panel over and do the other side. It is the easiest way for me, but may end up looking a bit disjointed in the photos. once I get the outlining done this way, I can rapidly do the fills.

Day Eighty-three

More black completed around the center. Now it is time to move on to the outer frame.

Days eighty-one and eighty-two

Did not post yesterday, so am doing a double today. the first picture shaows the progress of last night - the black filled in around the rest of the center. Today I shadowed all the red and painted more black on the middle ring of knotwork. Worked about 4 hours all told between last night and today.

Day Eighty!

Wow! Eighty days. Didn't someone travel around the world in eighty days (at least in a book)? Started filling in the black at the center of Panel three. Will either do more black tomorrow, or start shadowing the red. Worked from 9:00 pm till 11:00 pm

Day Seventy-nine

The shadowing is done on the blue knotwork. Worked from 8:45 till 10:30pm. The red needs to be done and then the black fill.

Day Seventy-eight

Began shadowing Panel three. (Saving Panel One till last). Worked from 9:00 till 11:15.
Finished about two-thirds of the blue knotwork. The black line you see about a third from the bottom is a line of thread to indicate the light source. The light is coming directly from above, and everything that falls below the line gets shadows added.

Day Seventy-seven

Your eyes do not deceive you, there was no blog yesterday. Today I finished the black on panel 2. All that remains is the highlight on all the lnotwork and framework and final touch up and this panel is done. All that will happen when the black is done on all three panels.

Day Seventy-five

The black keeps growing. One more session and it will be done on Panel two. Worked from 10:30pm til 1:15am

Day Seventy-four

Worked from 8:30 till 11:30. Painted in more black, as you can see from the photo.

Day Seventy-three

Painted more black tonight. Worked from 8:45 till 10:15; not as long as I would have liked. Things seemed to go very slow, progress-wise. I had intended to get the entire corner done, but the best laid plans of mice...you know,

Day Seventy-two

Worked from 8:15pm to 10:30pm. Painted more black. I am loving seeing the progress each day is adding now.

Day Seventy-one

Worked from 9 till 11:30. Painted in more black.

Day Seventy - latest progress and some thoughts

Painted some more black tonight. The photo shows the progress over yesterday and the day before. Seventy days may seem like a long time to have made only this much progress, and i guess it is. But what may not be known is that I am only working about two hours a night on these, and have not worked more than four hours on those rare days when I am able to do more. I generally am able to start painting about 8pm and finish about 10 or 10:30. So I have about 140 hours in all three panels so far. Another thing to consider, is that since all of the surface is being painted and not inked and colored, like my other pieces in the past, I am basically painting all the knotwork in from a 'negative space' standpoint. The background is being painted in LAST, and covering everything else, instead of as a normal background. This takes a greater amount of time, patience and detail than one would normally think. So all told, I think I am making very good progress. But I will not be making an end until I am finished. And that may take more time than anyone thought. I am going to make a good effort, however to finish in the next thirty days if possible.

Day Sixty-nine

More black work completed.

Day Sixty-eight

This took a lot of time tonight, but was able to get black down on a corner of panel two. The black in the photos have a shine because the paint is still wet. This area only needs a white highlight to be finished, but that will come later, when the whole piece is at that point.

Day Sixty-seven

Finished the Blue shadow on Panel Two. Here are some pictures of the latest progress.