Splashbacks

[erik winkler]

I have an intersting commission coming up.
In the architecture drawings of a new building for the Salvation Army is a big glass panel above the main entrance planned.

The wish is to color the complete glass and the text will stay transparant.
I have a kind of splashback technique in my head, but do not know how that is normally done.
Goldreverre has some nice exsamples:
Splashbacks.



I think this is done with sponges and dapping (maybe transparant) paint on and gild the open spots....

Could you give me some idea's?

Thank you,

Erik

[Patrick Mackle]

Erik,
Doing glass signs with faux finishes or glass panels with elaborate backgrounds can be tricky business. As you can see on his website he has mentioned a disclaimer on how his product can appear differently in certain conditions. Plan carefully your idea to leave the text clear so that you don't wind up with something that works and reads really well in one condition, but goes completely wrong when lighting or reflections create havoc. I deal with this issue on many projects and it can involve a lot of thinking and prototyping. I had a job where a lobby glass sign had to read well against a brushed anodized aluminum panel in backlit as well as reflected light and the client did not want a paint fill on the letters. The deep sandcarved letters just vanished against the bright brushed aluminum. I came up with the solution to lightly spray the carved text with light blue metallic aluminum paint. This allowed the text to glow with the backlit light and at the same time the sparse mist of metal flakes reflected the ambient light. I have used this method to sell recent jobs as well.
Pat

[erik winkler]

Hey friend,

Was this a tyransparant paint or just very lightly airbrushed on?
Have you any idea how he gets the shinny effects?

Erik

[Patrick Mackle]

Erik,
The metallic paint was opaque Krylon spray paint, in just lightly applied coating.

As far as shiny effects, you have a vast amount of materials to experiment with like colored mica powders, leaf metals, metal powders, foils,
glass frits and stringers, colored epoxies, two part metal patinas, and air dry glass enamels. Also you can texture or carve the glass before the coloring by sandblast texturing or kiln forming. There are more ways to decorate and form glass nowadays than ever, in hot and cold techniques.
When doing cold techniques on splash backs, it is wise to seal the work with a proven sealer to protect it from water invasion.
Pat

[Roderick Treece]

Pat,
Did you get a photo what your talking about ? I have a similar situation going on right now. No Back lighting, just reflective light. Some times you can see the lettering great something not.
In this case it's the lettering that's a problem not the Background
Roderick

[Larry White]

I wonder what they expected. Gray on gray can be a bit hard to read.

If they want better contrast, you'll most likely have to spray a colored glaze over the sandblasted background. ....but I don't know.........

Or?................

[Patrick Mackle]

Sorry Rod, even though I have added to the job several times I have not thought to take photos.
Your job is problematic. It looks by the shadows in the letters that the etching is on the first surface (front surface) so there
will always be the "shadow thing" going on. Otherwise I would suggest adding a color or patina to the brushed metal in the exact letter
openings to create a stable contrast. I would almost suggest having a copy of the text water jet cut out of a contrasting brushed metal and
gluing those letters over the existing clear text. The dimension factor would make it pop. Otherwise you could etch a new glass from the second surface side and then color the letters thus avoiding the shadows.
It looks like the designer could not envision the outcome of his design. Might have looked good on paper, but in reality it is not exciting.
Pat

[Kelly Thorson]

Here's one from my sample box Erik. It has a lot of gold on it.
The best thing for you to do is experiment and see what you come up with.
This one was made with fast size and a sea sponge, as well as inks, asphaltum and one shot. I used some skewings as well as some copper leaf and full sheets of gold.