Basically there are two kinds of paints for glass that you can apply. There is water based and non-water based paint.
Therefore if you want to utilize the non water based sort, you should use a ceramic thinner to water down the paint with. Look after your brushes however as they will have to be cleaned with a thinner, or even white spirit. They take somewhat a time to become dry, usually perhaps more or less 2 hours, nevertheless to be completely dry anything up to 8 hours. so a bit of patience is needed.
If you try the water based paints which you do,actually, dilute with water, cleaning will not be much of a difficulty. Your brushes etc. possibly will dry in more or less 20 minutes, but will not if truth be told 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 probably best if you paint them on initially to mark out your actual design, or you could go over a painted surface to add some detail.
When you use the outliner I always squeeze a bit out of the tube first in case it is blocked, or has any air bubbles. It is better if you bother to keep the top clean as you go along, to stop making very 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, however, it is a non water based paint that you are using, you could use a gloss 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 want your colours to get soiled 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.
Water softener systems are simple to find and you should be able to find some that you need.
