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| Editor |
The Temptation of Christ, Victoria and Albert Museum
12th Century Troyes Cathedral, France
The best glass designs in the medieval period have several features.
- Strong tonal values - not just colour and hue. Contrasting colours make the images stand out - often complimentary, red versus green, blue versus orange/yellow etc. In glass some colours are more radiant than others and blue can see m stronger than red - However good glass design works as well in black and white as colour. Colours of the same tone will not read and con fuses the eye. (This is how psychedelic images achieved its effect…
- Legibility - Clearly defined images easily readable from a distance - often the main features - heads hands and special 'attributes' (significant objects to the story of the character are made larger. 3. White (clear) borders that outline the essential elements and separates colours to give more radiance. Strong background colour that frames the main images.
- Simple painted details that give extra information - faces, hands, and objects of importance (attributes)- i.e. the stones that the Devil is offering Christ and tempting him to make into bread are the key to this story of the Temptation in the wilderness where Christ is fasting for 40 days. Here the stones break the blue and red background in the centre of the design their white colour makes them stand out against both colours.
- Lead lines that act as support to the main design and do not confuse the image. (Remember many medieval images have been subject to extensive repairs over the centuries – they may not have been quite so heavily leaded when the began)
- Borders that frame the design but do not distract, making a 'bridge' from the heaviness of the architecture to the main images. Figures can break into the border but they still contain them
To make a design as a paper collage. - This is a guide for non-artists who would like some ideas to start. If you do not need this then move on to Templates
A good place to start is with a collage (cut pieces of coloured paper) in paper. Designing and drawing on screen is difficult and usually looks very mechanical. It is more fun to start on paper with collage. You can then scan/or take a digital photo of your finished image and put it into a CAD design programme (say PhotoShop). This means you can play with the details on screen and keep you original intact.
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1 Traditional stained glass is made of cut coloured pieces of glass painted and made to fit together like a jigsaw. When you find an image you like in a book or on the web you have to make it into simple flat colours. You can use the photo as a basis but you will need to adjust it to suit the medium - which will not work well as 3 dimensional images. Right: A picture of the Editor working on cut pieces of glass fixed onto a glass easel |
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2. Collect a range of coloured paper in primary colours. Pieces of magazine photos are often useful or you can tint some yourself by sponging strong clear watercolours onto good white paper. this allows you to make some lighter and darker ares by building up the paint. Right:
Photo making coloured paper |
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3. Find an image you would like to use (or take a photo) Take an A4 piece of paper (scanner size) and draw a simple outline of the main features of the photograph or sculpture. Here is Ishtar/Innana as an example- she was used as the basis for Lilith Remember to exaggerate any important features. The head, attendant animals, important elements held in the hands. Animals do not have to be life size - these lions are smaller than the figure of the goddess because they are less important. (NB. If you use a circle it will make it easier to put the design into the templates on the site later) |
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3. Now tearing and cutting your piece of paper make a brightly coloured collage of the design with just the main areas included - do not worry about details. Use a mid tone colour for the background then your figure will have to be lighter to show up against it . Put the light areas of white later. At this point it is not necessary to put in any lead lines - just the main shapes in colour Right - Photo of class making designs |
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A bronze relief of Cerrunos(Herne the Hunter) |
Collage of Herne the Hunter made by Fiona Harley |
Here are some more examples from a 2-hour design
class.
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Kali by Jo Jones |
Freya by Kristin Hagstad |
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Ganesha by Debbie Morton |
Cosmic woman by Lisa Tabberer |
The next step is to put these images into templates to make a design for the rose window and add details. You can do this on paper if you wish - I would advise you do not work directly on top of the collage but use a colour photocopy of your collage so that you still have the original to use should you make a mistake.
If you want to use PhotoShop to continue your design - brief guidelines are on next page - Using Templates with Photoshop.
©DA Whitbread MA(RCA), School of Arts, Design, Media and Culture, University of Sunderland, UK. June 1st, 2006