Always squeeze a little outliner into a tissue to check there are no blockages or airbubbles in the nozzle. As you work, keep wiping the tip. This should help prevent lines becoming too thick.

Outliners

There are three different ways of applying an outline in glass painting:

1. Glass Paint Outline stickers - these are ideal for beginners and are best used on flat, smooth surfaces. Starting in one corner, gently peel up the sticker taking care not to stretch or distort it and apply it to a clean glass surface. When using a large sticker, the most accurate way to position it is to lay it sticky side up on a flat surface. Place the glass item over the top of the sticker then press down firmly. This method will only work with transparent projects.

2. Glass paint outliners - these are applied by squeezing from a tube to provide a fine outline. They come in a range of colours. They can be used as an outline for your design before paint is applied or piped over a pre-painted surface as fine detailing.

3. Leading tape - this is another way of creating an outline for your design, particularly on doors and windows. The leading tape comes on a roll in two different widths. Peel off the backing tape, stick it onto the glass and bend it to fit your design.

Always prepare your surface by wiping the surface with a solvent (such as white spirit or methylated spirit) to remove grease and surface dust.

Applying the paint

When filling in areas between outlines with a brush, apply paint generously by puddling the paint or using a pipette. This will give a flat, stained-glass effect. To get a lighter colour paint, dilute with water for the water based paint or gloss varnish for the non-water based paints.

Always pour paint into a palette rather than using straight from the jar. This prevents colours becoming dirty or diluted. Sponging is another way of applying glass paint, this is good for covering large areas and blending colours while wet. The first coat can also be allowed to dry then oversponged with a second colour.