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Art, Thursday, Period Three
Thursday, January 18th, 2018 12:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geniuswithasmartphoneClass was back in the Danger Shop today and that was entirely for aesthetic purposes. They'd be working with real supplies and would be able to take their pieces home with them, but Hardison was a little extra sometimes and had decided that creating stained glass was absolutely impossible unless the students were working in a holographic version of La Sainte Chapelle.
"Mornin'!" he greeted when the class filed through the door. "So, y'all can probably guess today's project just from our surroundings. Stained glass has been used in decoration for thousands of years, an' was used in Europe heavily in the Middle Ages to teach bible stories to the general populace, most of whom couldn't read. That's why so many cathedrals an' the like have these beautiful stained glass windows in 'em, so that the parishioners could follow along with the stories as they were bein' read. There's a lot more to the history an' art of stained glass, especially its place in Islam, an' if you're interested, I've got plenty of links an' things I can share."
But this was art class and not art history, and Hardison was excited to get going. "Today, we're makin' DIY stained glass art pieces. Now, real stained glass involves a highly technical, very dangerous process with chemicals an' that's a semester's worth of lessons on its own. Since we only got an hour--less if you wanna explore the cathedral--we're gonna take some short cuts."
There were desks scattered all around the main hall of the cathedral. On them were the necessary supplies: paper, fat black markers, pieces of glass in various shapes and sizes, liquid leading, and a variety of glass stains. "Making faux stained glass is easy," Hardison explained. "First, take your marker an' draw a design on the paper. It can be a design, a drawing, it can be realistic, or heavily stylized. Anything you want--except, once again, can't be anythin' you've created for class already." No diamonds, no logos, no horses, no baked goods, no futuristic cities. Hardison was trying to get them to move out of their comfort zones. "Feel free to look around if you need some inspiration, or look through some of the books an' things I brought along about the history of stained glass."
The Islamic geometric patterns in particular were gorgeous and the art deco movement had done a lot for the use of glass.
"Once you have a pattern you like, put it down on the desk, place a piece of glass over it, an' use your liquid leading to follow the lines. Make sure they all connect, or the stain is gonna spread an' mix. Once you've got the outline done in the liquid lead, add your stain. You can mix the stain right on the glass to get different colors, or swirl 'em around for different effects. Just make sure you pop any bubbles in the stain before it dries, or they'll form imperfections on your glass. If you make a mistake with your stainin', a little hot water will clean it up an' you can start all over again. Once you're done, just let it dry an' there you go! Your own piece of stained glass art."
"Mornin'!" he greeted when the class filed through the door. "So, y'all can probably guess today's project just from our surroundings. Stained glass has been used in decoration for thousands of years, an' was used in Europe heavily in the Middle Ages to teach bible stories to the general populace, most of whom couldn't read. That's why so many cathedrals an' the like have these beautiful stained glass windows in 'em, so that the parishioners could follow along with the stories as they were bein' read. There's a lot more to the history an' art of stained glass, especially its place in Islam, an' if you're interested, I've got plenty of links an' things I can share."
But this was art class and not art history, and Hardison was excited to get going. "Today, we're makin' DIY stained glass art pieces. Now, real stained glass involves a highly technical, very dangerous process with chemicals an' that's a semester's worth of lessons on its own. Since we only got an hour--less if you wanna explore the cathedral--we're gonna take some short cuts."
There were desks scattered all around the main hall of the cathedral. On them were the necessary supplies: paper, fat black markers, pieces of glass in various shapes and sizes, liquid leading, and a variety of glass stains. "Making faux stained glass is easy," Hardison explained. "First, take your marker an' draw a design on the paper. It can be a design, a drawing, it can be realistic, or heavily stylized. Anything you want--except, once again, can't be anythin' you've created for class already." No diamonds, no logos, no horses, no baked goods, no futuristic cities. Hardison was trying to get them to move out of their comfort zones. "Feel free to look around if you need some inspiration, or look through some of the books an' things I brought along about the history of stained glass."
The Islamic geometric patterns in particular were gorgeous and the art deco movement had done a lot for the use of glass.
"Once you have a pattern you like, put it down on the desk, place a piece of glass over it, an' use your liquid leading to follow the lines. Make sure they all connect, or the stain is gonna spread an' mix. Once you've got the outline done in the liquid lead, add your stain. You can mix the stain right on the glass to get different colors, or swirl 'em around for different effects. Just make sure you pop any bubbles in the stain before it dries, or they'll form imperfections on your glass. If you make a mistake with your stainin', a little hot water will clean it up an' you can start all over again. Once you're done, just let it dry an' there you go! Your own piece of stained glass art."