Basically there are two kinds of paints for glass that you can apply. There is water based and non-water based paint.

Hence if you opt to apply the non water based type, you ought to use a ceramic thinner to weaken the paint with. Watch your brushes though as they will have to be cleaned with a thinner, or even white spirit. They take quite a time to dry out, usually perhaps about 2 hours, however to be absolutely dry anything up to 8 hours. so a bit of tolerance is needed.

If you try the water based paints which you do, in fact, dilute with water, cleaning will not be much of a problem. Your brushes etc. may dry in just about 20 minutes, but will not in reality be properly dried out possibly for days.

For your guide lines, on top of glass you want to avail yourself of an outliner, which does exactly that. Here you need a steady hand as you squeeze the paint from the tube to form your lines. You can buy them in various colour shades, but there are a few basic ones one can use. Namely black, gold, silver, as well as a kind of grey.

These are in all probability best if you paint them on to start with to mark out your actual pattern, or you might go on top of a painted surface to intensify some detail.

When you use the outliner I always squeeze a bit out of the tube to start with in case it is blocked, or has some air bubbles. It is better if you make an effort to keep the top clean as you go along, to stop making awfully thick lines.

You can what’s more use leading tape. This is more often than not used on windows and doors. Normally this comes in a couple of widths and on a roll. In this situation the backing needs to be pulled off so that you can fix the tape to the glass and then try to bend it to make your design.

Glass does need to be prepared first to get rid of any grease from your surface, so that your paint will stick. You can use white spirit for this.

At this time when you do progress to paint within your outlines with your brush, don’t be sparing with the paint! You ought to get a good stained glass effect. If you need a paler colour and you are using a water based paint, weaken it with water.

If, though, it is a non water based paint that you are using, you can use a shiny finish varnish. You will need to use a palette for your paint. I would not recommend that you go straight from the jar as you will not like your colours to get mucky or watered down.

If you have a big space to cover you can always make use of a sponge to put on the paint moreover you could even now blend your colours whilst they are wet.