Thank you so much for your very kind words, Jesusfollower! When I started doing this I was originally using the free online program pixlr, which was very similar to Photoshop, but they went offline that very same year (2018) and when they returned, they had dumbed-down the program so much it became useless to me. That's when my daughter got me Photoshop I may not even know a tenth of what the program can do, and I am certainly no professional, though I spent the whole of my adult working life in the photofinishing industry making people's pictures look as good as they possibly could, and when digital came in, I learned very remedial PS skills as part of my work responsibilities; however, my main tasks were always printing and color correcting. I worked in three different labs under five different bosses over the course of forty four years starting on the day of my 21st birthday, which I had always considered a gift from the Spirit of the Universe (not being a believer at the time), because it is the only thing I knew I wanted to do. When COVID struck, I had just turned 65 and been diagnosed with cancer, so I was involuntarily retired. I am now cancer-free, but spend a good deal of time alone. Designing is a great way for me be engaged, and I am always encouraged to know that others appreciate my efforts Any and all glory goes to God!
I see grisaille glass painting is done very monochromatically! The designs that come up in my search all look very Celtic, though the word itself seems to be French. How interesting to learn that the use of color on glass was outlawed at one time!!! And how very odd LOL. Drawing with paper and pencil is something I am confident you can return to with ease if you had developed the skill to any extent previously, and I hope the cost of supplies for your stained glass work are not overly costly. Is the oven you use similar to a kiln? I look forward to seeing your work in the Life Bits section! May God continue to richly bless you...
Hello Magenta, I am sorry you had to retire early because of health issues, very glad to know your health is back to normal, I now understand why your art is so beautiful. You had as i guessed, a lot of practice and it shows. I know what you mean about being engaged, myself now retired from a very busy job in a big research unit on respiratory disease. I was busy multitasking 12 hours a day and even in my dreams... but i liked it, it is why since retirement, i need to keep busy doing a lot of sports, reading ( bible mostly now) listening to spotify and shortly resuming my stain glass hobby.
For the grisaille, the main color is black however you can add some colors as yellows and orange tints using silver stain, it requires a second firing in the oven but is worth it, I have a test I did, I will show you . Also some enamels are now available, you can add pretty much any color you like but it is seldom used as it is very difficult to master and requires a lot of testing for the correct temperature and also is depends on the type of glass you use, I don't have any examples to show but will try this winter , probably a floral panel to start with.
As I write this i am watching a huge pink-orange moon rising above the mountains, truly beautiful.
Blessings Magenta.
JF