Painting on Glass - Hanging Rock #2

The second of series of paintings that was inspired by views from Hanging Rock State Park. Like the earlier painting done this was painted on two different surfaces. The lower surface is that encompasses the sky and mountains is painted on a 16x20" Gessobord. The portion of the painting that shows the rock and the big tree is painted directly on the glass.

I love the overall finished look of these works, but they are so much more challenging than traditional paintings on canvas or boards. A few things to point out.

1. Glass has no absorption - Despite masking and priming areas of the glass - the painting process requires several layers so to avoid streaking. The varnishing is also critical so the paint will not lift off the surface.

2. Framing - I like to offset the glass about 1/4" away from the panel to give a dimensional depth effect. I use spacers around the perimeter of the panel and the all the media is set into a metal sectional frame. I have framed dozens of pieces like this, but as we all know glass is quite fragile. If glass breaks during the framing process of matted artwork, all it costs me is a new piece of glass. On these works we are talking about hours of painting time wasted if the glass breaks. Needless to say the framing part is a bit tricky.

3. Photography - I still have not quite figured out how to do this so as to avoid all the reflections that occur from the glass. Back lighting, side lighting, front lighting - all have their advantages and disadvantages, but I have yet to take a perfect photograph from these paintings.

Hanging Rock State Park #2 - 20x16" Acrylic on Glass and Panel