Etched Glass NYC

Here is the process of etching a large window approx. 6' by 10.5'..  . Even after 20 years of experience these are a challenge. Lots of room for error, Half the battle is getting the puppies in without breaking them... I will take you through the whole process..going to install this window this week if it kills me.

Here is step one...I take my rough sketch (approx. to scale) and then I divide up into to the corresponding panels. This window has four panels..each is roughly 3 foot wide by 5 foot height. The window is divided by two cross beams of aluminum (one vert.,  one horizontal.)  Faces and hands must not fall in these places. That is most important.

On a ten scale of difficulty this is a ten in my mind.The trick is to take it step by step and piece by piece and it doesnt seem that hard.

we have completed step one and that is a good thing. 

Dr. Alex says---measure twice, cut once--this will save you from nervous breakdowns.

 Here is step two ---I moved the christ child to the right so he isnt bisected..I moved him right as opposed to left because it makes more sense..Only artists are able to move christ around. We have that power. The trick is to refine the drawing next, then large it up and refine again and then refine it again at full scale. I will use a grid system or projector to enlarge..etching is line based art. Rembrandt is form based art. Art nouveau and deco are both line/ design based. Line based art is easier for me as I started out that way twenty years ago teaching myself glass. I am a line artist but I love velasquez and rembrandt and wish i could paint like them. I can do a mean line at times when needed, though. Mucha is a master of line...Mucha is a god of line..

MUCHA! I am going to try to get my lines for this piece up to MUCHA levels, I will fail but why not shoot for the stars. Failure isnt bad, it gets you past one more bad drawing and closer to a good one.

 Successive layers of tracing paper are a great way to get you closer to where you want to be..little by little you can fix your mistakes from the previous drawing. Basically at this stage you are simply trying to get your composition into place and to get your figures poses "figured out" always hit details last..walk, then run, young arteesto and waste no time in cafes posing. If you a arent drawing then you should be out drinking in dive bars and sketching old drunks from the underbelly of life..to understand the great frog of life you must understand the underbelly..The word understanding comes from ages ago when you wanted to learn if a building structure was sound you would go into the basement to get under-standing. I have known many an artist who has never lived outside a studio or classroom. They were sheltered like a rich child from the realities of life (like the buddha) but unlike the buddha they never ventured forth over the wall of the palace to meet the beggars and lepers of genius. They never found their own Bodhi tree to sit beneath so their art lies dead and tasteless with as much life as used lawn furniture. If you dont live, you art will never live and it will be stale wont sell because no one buys stale bread (only the armless who cant squeeze it first.) But I digress and we have art to make..so back on the horse of progress..always play renaissance music when you draw Renaissance, that or david hasselhoff...you must stay inspired..no going through the motions...   

 Here is my fifth drawing ...this is on a lightbox. As a young arteest eeet is most beenee-fischel to own zee light box. Now that I have some issues worked out on the drawing I am going to do a few side studies of faces and anatomy and such. It must must never be stiff..stiff is the death of art..I have tried to create a diagonal  from botom right to top left..diagonal are the fish in fish soup, without them you have nothing but flat water. Your paper is never precious, dont be afraid to draw failures and throw away twenty drawings.