I’ve got a piece of glass laying around and decided to do a little backpainted glass art piece. I started here by gathering the inspiration I plan to use for my design. Now I’ll show you how I process it to create a design I intend to use for my project.
I started by just doodling sketches while looking at my inspiration photos. These happened to be from a walk around Chicago a couple of Octobers ago so they all share a deco vibe.
Here are some close ups of the different categories. The first and second shots are what I am calling “borders.” Stick around and I’ll outline how you fit the components together to create a cohesive design.
Followed up by “Corners,” which might be the most flexible component. Combining enough corners, you can create medallions and half rounds, which could be a border as well. Also, turn a corner out towards your edge with the corner pointing toward the middle of your composition and you’ve got yet another way to create a border.
My last component group is “Fill.” It does exactly what it sounds like and fills in space. In my sketches, the dotted border could also be fill, along with individual pieces of some of the other components (leaves off of a corner for instance).
Next, loosely sketch a design in the shape of your project (rectangle, circle, square, etc.) by combining the individual components in different configurations.
In the first group, I use a very simple combination. Corners in the corners and grouped together in the center to make a medallion with a border around the edges and fill in the middle.
The second group is a bit busier. By using a very geometric border around the outside edge, you still have a straight edge great for putting a second border next to. Then layer your corners in, maybe add a couple of half-rounds (two corners) and create two focal points instead of a center medallion. The focal points could be a fan of palms or feathers.
I’ll show you what I landed on and how the colors I choose for my project will make it very easi to get a chic look.
