The Glass Painting Book [Hardcover]

Jane Dunsterville (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997

Providing an introduction to the craft of painting on glass, this book contains a guide to materials and techniques, a range of projects with step-by-step instructions, a selection of trace-off motifs, and a trouble-shooting section. The simplest of projects - turning a jam jar into a lantern - familiarizes readers with the paints and the basic skills of using the trace-off motifs and painting freehand. This leads on to transforming plain glass bowls, glasses, trinket boxes, mirrors, picture frames, vases, cabinet doors, storage jars, and many other household items, into brightly coloured objects.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jane Dunsterville is one of Britain's leading glass painting specialists. A trained interior and exhibition designer, her love of stained glass has led her to practise that craft and diversify into glass painting. Jane and her husband run a successful business, Dunsterville Craft and Design, which makes and supplies glass painting kits, and runs courses on the craft. This is Jane's second book for David & Charles, her first being Glass Painting Projects, written with her husband. Jane lives in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: David & Charles (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0715304283
• ISBN-13: 978-0715304280
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I was looking for!!, October 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Glass Painting Book (Hardcover)

When looking for a glass painting book, I was after a book that not only showed me how to create the effect I am looking for, but to also give me idea's on what I want to paint. This book has it all. Technique, colour as well as design ideas. Brilliant!!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Just an OK to sub par book for glass painting, February 9, 2006

By 

C. Sipe "Cleo" (East Coast) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Glass Painting Book (Paperback)

Just beginning glass painting and swayed by the previous glowing reviews, I purchased a copy of "The Glass Painting Book" by Jane Dunsterville. Also, the photo of the gorgeous painted mirror on the back cover certainly helped! I will say that I am VERY disappointed as the book didn't meet my expections.

Since this book is geared towards "the first-time glass painter", I anticipated some discussion about different kinds of glass paints, different techniques, ideas, etc. The book only glosses over these introductory subjects.

For example, in her "Materials and Equipment" section, she discusses different kinds of glass paints. Some paints need baking and some are air drying only, or that some are more translucent than others. This is all fine and good, but I want to know what types and brands of paint are currently on the market, what are the benefits of using one kind over another, how many looks can I achieve (like stained glass), etc. There is a supplier index in the back, and it may be useful to those people residing in the UK, but there is only ONE supplier listed for the US. And I didn't realize QVC was a major supplier of glass paints to the US! NOT!

Introductory paint projects should be written as scientific experiments: very detailed and easy to replicate. This is not the author's approach. She doesn't even tell you the color paints needed or how to replicate the "look" of the project. For the painted mirror project (as pictured on the back cover) she states a GENERAL list of materials (mirror, your design, glass paints, etc). There is NO instruction on technique in the project steps! They are trivial ... clean mirror, transfer design, paint over black outline, etc. I suppose the author relies soley on the 1-2 pages in which she discusses techniques in the beginning of the book. But how some of the projects looks are achieved remain a mystery as many of the "techniques" discussed should not be categorized as such. Cleaning the glass and paint smudges are not painting "techniques". The author gives artistic license to the new student prematurely by advising to "experiment" which actually disguises the lack of teaching direction from the author.

On the upside, the book has beautiful pictures of the projects and useful design stencils.

Overall, I do not recommend this book. I was very disappointed especially given the previous reviews. I have learned more about beginning glass painting on my own than through this book.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellant pictures and easy to follow methods, March 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Glass Painting Book (Hardcover)

What can I say? Jane Dunsterville has created a masterpiece of a book. The pictures and related text are very clear and the instructions for the projects are easy to follow. Glass painting is a fascinating craft that can be used to decorate anything from a tooth brush holder to a full window. Jane shows you how to get the best from any given media.