Tuesday, December 6, 2011

New work by one of my students


Hi Ken, attached are a couple of pictures of the glasscapes I painted using the techniques you taught me last year. Just thought you might like to see what I am finally able to do thanks to your teaching.
So thanks J
Hope you and your family are well.
Best,
Lucie Boucher
Stone Ridge Glass

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Tell me you don't want to make one of these?


Here's an experiment with Reusche Tracing Black Lead Free glass pigment painted onto Spectrum System 96 and picked up in the hot shop. I'm practicing for the upcoming workshop: 
There's still time to register for this class. Follow the link above.

Experiment

Friday, September 9, 2011

Interview on Online Publishing


What specifically did you publish? Why self-publish? and why now?

[J. Kenneth Leap] Silver Stain: An Artist’s Guide
I had prepared the material for a workshop at the AGG conference in Buffalo, NY. I first posted my notes on a blog: http://thepaintedwindow.blogspot.com/ . Soon afterward I got an email/advertisement from Blogger explaining how to turn my blog into a book. The service “slurps” your blog posts, formats them and allows you to order a printed version in soft or hard cover. I tried it and ordered a print of my blog. When it arrived I was disappointed with the layout as the captions weren’t translated consistently with my photos. However the idea of a print version of my silver stain research seemed worth pursuing.

Did you consider any of the other print-on-demand services, like Lulu, or Snapfish, or Shutterfly?

[J. Kenneth Leap] I already use Shutterfly to make annual “family albums” to give to my parents & in-laws at the holidays. Shutterfly books are very simple to make and I have been pleased with the color and quality of the images. I have ordered the 12 x 12 format and made 50 page books which typically cost around $75 each to produce. Then I started to make “project albums” in the 8 ½ x 11 format to give to clients and architects. These usually cost about $50 each. Shutterfly runs various promotional discounts with 50% off or free shipping or buy 1 get 1 free, etc. so I usually wait to catch a sale before I place the order.

How did you find out about Blurb?

Judith Schaechter mentioned Blurb during the conference in Detroit.

Why did you choose Blurb over any other print-on-demand services?

I chose Blurb because it was easy to make the book available for sale. Shutterfly only allows you to order their books for yourself. With Blurb, after you order one copy for yourself you have the option to offer the book for sale. You set your own price for markup and how you want to receive payments if you “make anything” on the book. I get a check once a month credited to my Paypal account – this was the best option to avoid all processing and service fees. There would be a small fee if I wanted to be mailed a check instead.

Which software did you use to generate the file to upload to Blurb?
Or did you use a Blurb template?

I used Blurb’s own software called Blurb BookSmart which I downloaded from their website. I was able to layout the whole book on my computer then upload the completed file for publishing. BookSmart includes templates, as does Shutterfly, however Blurb’s version allows for more customization.

Any pleasant surprises? Unusual feedback from self publishing the book?

I was contacted by an artist in Kuwait who couldn’t order my book because Blurb wouldn’t ship to his country. I resolved it by sending him a copy myself which he reimbursed me for using Paypal. I’m probably on a terrorist watch list now!

How many copies have you distributed?

I have sold over 100 copies. They have gone all over the world.



What were the pros and cons of using Blurb?

First off, Blurb has a sexy interface that allows the shopper to turn the pages online and look at the whole book. (images attached) Blurb was very easy to use to format and upload my book. When I worked with Shutterfly I had to do all of the editing online and sometimes the site would crash – however I think they now offer a layout program that resides on your computer so perhaps this is no longer an issue. Shutterfly has better paper & color and the “image wrap” cover is standard. Blurb hard cover options start with a dust jacket – image wrap is extra. The con with all print on demand is the price. The books seem expensive compared to brick and mortar bookstores which offer everything at a discount. The 80 page hard cover version of my book costs $48.95 – I wish it could be $25. If I were to make a 100 page 12 x 12 portfolio it would cost over $100 a copy. It would be hard to have a stack of these around for sale or to give away to cultivate a relationship with a client. People always ask “Can I buy a copy of your book from you?” and I have to say, “No, you have to purchase it online.” I think people prefer to get a signed copy from the author – but that’s tricky with print-on-demand. Another shortfall is that Blurb does not support ISBN numbers. Some print on demand services sell the option to add an ISBN. This facilitates the sale of the book through other resellers like Amazon or Barnes & Noble. If you do a web search for my book, you’ll be directed to my website or my page at Blurb. You won’t find it on Amazon or Alibris– with all the perks that implies.

Are you wanting to print/publish any more books?

Absolutely! I have 3 books on individual projects which I have made up using Shutterfly. I might reformat them with Blurb. And a large format “portfolio” book makes a great impression even if I have to pay $100 to give one away. I will probably do that next.

Is there a Lawrence Saint / Ruby Glass book in the works?

Good idea!

If so, would you use Blurb again?

There are many options out there. For something shorter I think (Tom) your find of Mag Cloud is very intriguing. Using Blurb might be more of an inroad to a book deal from a traditional publisher – it has been suggested to me that I explore that as well.  

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Dress-up Dad

I had the idea to make a “Dress Up Dad” refrigerator magnet set for my kids – Now let me invite you to have more fun in your week by playing with…me!
I’m attaching 3 pages that make up the exclusive “Magnetic Dress Up – Ken’s Adventures & Fantasy Set”
Instructions: Print out the cover sheet on regular 8.5 x 11 paper as a guide to the outfits. Then print the 2 pages of templates on 8.5 X 11 magnetic inkjet paper from Staples. Cut out all the outfits with nail scissors and an X-acto knife. Hang me on your fridge, file cabinet or other metal surface. Heck, you might even be able to stick me on the car door and take me on your next adventure! Don’t have magnetic inkjet paper – no problem, just add some fold-back tabs to the outfits and use like traditional paper dolls!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – I know you’ll have more fun with me hanging around!
Ken
PS: Send a photo of me on your fridge or your car and I’ll post it on my blog!  



Sunday, August 7, 2011

Creative Collaboration: Hot Glass with Painted Imagery



October 15 & 16, 2011
Saturday & Sunday
10am-5pm


Location: Wheaton Arts - Stained Glass Studio (Sat) and Glass Studio (Sun)
Ages: 16 and above
Class limit: 8
Members $380 / Non-Members $400    Register Now>>

Roll-Up (Optional, Sat Oct. 22) : Members $180 / Non-Members $200    Register Now>>

Students will explore the exciting techniques of Inclusions, Pick-ups and Roll-ups (optional) to incorporate painted imagery with hot glass! J. Kenneth Leap will start the class with a day in his studio, painting glass with high fire pigments and fusing them into blanks that can be incorporated into hot glass in many ways. The next day will be spent with Hank Adams and his team in the hot glass shop where students will have the opportunity to add their painted elements to a solid casting. Students may also choose to come the following weekend for another day-long class to learn the technique of the roll-up with blown glass.

Instructors: J. Kenneth Leap and Hank Adams

Fall 2011: Stained Glass Tours & Workshops at Glencairn Museum

Glencairn Museum. Bryn Athyn PA
September 17, 2011 – TOUR/DEMO: The Bryn Athyn Experiment – Replicating Medieval Glass
In the 1920’s the craftsmen of Bryn Athyn began a great experiment to rediscover techniques of Medieval Stained Glass. In the process they worked out their own unique methods for glass making and painting in the medieval style. This 3 hour tour will include an in depth look at the works created for the home of Raymond Pitcairn paired with the extraordinary collection of 12th Century glass that inspired them. The tour will conclude in the studio for a demonstration of techniques based on the discoveries of the Bryn Athyn craftsmen many of which blur the distinction between restoration and forgery.
Tour/Demo: The Bryn Athyn Experiment - Replicating Medieval Glass
FEE: $35pp 
DATE: Sept 17, 1-4PM
Maximum Size: 10
Register at Glencairn 
Contact Doreen Carey at 267-502-2981 or doreen.carey@glencairnmuseum.org 


November 5 & 12, 2011 – WORKSHOP: Glass Painted Panels using Historic Techniques

This class will introduce traditional techniques of glass painting used by stained glass artisans in the medieval and renaissance period. Participants will be given a choice of patterns and produce a small panel during the workshop. Students will learn to mix and apply glass based pigments. Proper brush techniques will be covered in detail. All materials provided. No experience necessary.
Students make a panel like this!

FEE: $225 
Class length: 2 Days
DATES: November 5 & 12, 2011
Daily schedule: Saturday 1:00 – 4:30 PM
Maximum Class Size: 10
Register at Glencairn 
Contact Doreen Carey at 267-502-2981 or doreen.carey@glencairnmuseum.org 


ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:


J. Kenneth Leap has been painting on glass for 25 years. He currently holds a position as the Education Chair of the American Glass Guild. He is the Stained Glass Artist in Residence at  Glencairn Museum. He is an associate artist at the Wheaton Arts & Cultural Center in MillvilleNJ where he maintains a studio and offers additional classes. For more information please visit www.jkennethleap.com.

ABOUT GLENCAIRN:


Glencairn, located in Bryn AthynPA was the home of Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn, built in the Romanesque style between 1928 and 1939. Glencairn now serves as a museum of the history of religion. The museum houses an extraordinary collection of French medieval stained glass panels on par with the finest examples in the Cloisters or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For more information about Glencairn visit www.glencairnmuseum.org


Saturday, July 30, 2011

Photoshop Class Notes

Photoshop Class at AGG

Photoshop for the Stained Glass Artist with J. Kenneth Leap
Fri, July 22, 2011. 9am-11am  
DESCRIPTION: This class will cover what you need to know about Photoshop and how to use it. Learn to resize, crop & correct photographs for email, website & print; process images for screen printing and photo sandblast applications and use Photoshop to build and visualize windows for better presentations. What can Photoshop do for you? What are you missing out on?

I recommend NAPP - The National Association of Photoshop Professionals. They have a great magazine, online video tutorial, webinars, freebies and all kinds of great stuff. And if you join (or even visit their website) via this link I think I actually get some kind of points so please use it if you think NAPP will benefit you! There are lots of ways to get there. You can click the image above or the link below or copy & paste it into your browser and GO!



Here’s what we covered…

The Basics

What is Photoshop?
I could reinvent the wheel or you could look at these websites:
Getting images into Photoshop
Scanning
Digital Camera
Take good Photos
Web Based Stock Photos – hint: Google “royalty free images”
            Istockphoto, shutterstock, fotolia


Q: I want to edit photos of my work to send to people and to enter design competitions

A: Resize, crop & correct photographs for email, website & print

Resizing images
Resolution: What it is; why it Matters = http://www.jnevins.com/resolution.htm
Resize for email – Ask yourself how will they use it?
            In your email program you can Paste or Attach (“paste” will change the file type, typically from .jpeg to .png. Use “attach” and look for a dialogue box for control of image resize options)
                        Warning: attachments may be deleted or bounced. When sending unsolicited images it may be better to paste them into your body text and mention that Hi-rez files are available.
            Resize options: small, medium, large, no resize
                        Small = icons, thumbnails, handheld device screens
                        Medium = Blog images, Face book
                        Large = Screen presentations like PowerPoint
                        No resize = send original size Photo Books, magazines or print services Images too big to attach? Try “Drop Box”, Cloud or FTP (Goggle them) 

Use Photoshop to correct Photos


            Use the crop tool with the perspective box checked to Correct Perspective. Drag corners to points in the image you know to be square – like the window frame.  You may need to rescale the image if the results are too narrow or wide.


Draw a perfect circular “Shape” as a guide when resizing medallion windows or figures with halos.
Correct Barrel Distortion caused by the lens curvature using the commands Filter/Distort/Spherize.
Experiment with a small negative number (-8 to -2 range).
Photoshop CS5 can read the metadata of a DSLR camera and AUTOMATICALLY correct this using FILTER/LENS CORRECTION


Q: How do I add neat arrows to type blocks, to point out things within the picture?

A: Use Photoshop Shapes. (Shapes are vector based and resize limitlessly).
Google: shape tool
Some arrows are included in Photoshop’s default shapes. You can find more arrows as “custom” shapes on the web.
Google: arrow Photoshop shape
You can also add an arrow heads to shapes made with the line tool.

Q: How do I select one specific color in an image and change it to another.

A: Select/color range then Adjust/Hue Saturation (review information about non-destructive editing) or add a new layer/set blending mode to COLOR/paint on layer

Q: I can’t figure out how to use …masks

A. Masks are great for non-destructive editing. Masks only work on layers so make the image into a layer. Apply a mask, erase with the eraser tool and the information is hidden, retrieve it by reversing the color of the eraser tool or painting back into the mask with a white brush. 

Q: How do I color a line drawing?

A: There are many ways to do this. Here’s one approach: scan drawing; open in Photoshop (it will be the background layer by default). Add a new layer, set layer property to multiply; select brush; select color. Paint on layer – add new layer for each color and you can easily change the color with adjustment/hue saturation

Q: How do I process images for screen printing and photo sandblast applications


A: This is a class unto itself but here’s what we covered:
Convert image to Grayscale
For line art Adjust/Threshold to the desired effect. Some FILTERS (like cut out or graphic pen) also create interesting effects but remember you must have ONLY black or white no grays at all.
For continuous tone photographs convert to Grayscale then Adjust brightness/contrast so there are no “blow-outs” or “fill-ins”. There should be some gray in both the whitest white and the blackest black. Shoot for a tonal range of 10% to 90% rather than 0% to 100%.
Use IMAGE/MODE/BITMAP/HALFTONE commands to create a halftone screen
Set the lines per inch based on the screen mesh or the detail of the sandblast film. Photo sandblast cannot handle more than 65 LPI I typically use 25 LPI or 12 LPI if I want to actually carve into the glass. 65LPI only allows you to lightly frost the surface.
Set the angle based on the screen mesh (this is not important with photo silkscreen)
Bitmap images do not display accurately on the screen after conversion. You must print them out to evaluate the results.
Another option is to convert to GRAYSCALE then use the FILTER/PIXILATE/COLOR HALFTONE command. This will give you a different effect of black dots than the bitmap route.

Other things I would have covered if I had the time:

Build and visualize windows for better presentations
Selecting parts of an image
Removing a Color Cast
Copying
Masking
Combining
Pasting
Organizing layers
Adjustments
Blending Modes
Filters
Styles

Drawing in Photoshop from Scratch

Brushes and brush dynamics

Learn how to make a custom brush. Learn how to save and load a custom brush.  Google “custom brushes” for brushes you can download, load and use. I save these in a folder called “My Photoshop Customs”

My Photoshop Customs = A folder where I keep custom brushes, shapes, actions and other things you can search for on the web, download then install into Photoshop


Learn these terms:

Vectors/Bitmaps
Non destructive
Global change

How to Learn Photoshop

Books
Online Tutorials
Online Videos
NAPP
Kelby Training
Lyndia.Com
Vimeo


WEBLINKS/RESOURCES


Photography in General:

How to photograph stained glass:

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS:


SPECIFICALLY STAINED GLASS but not what you think:

A photo-to-woodcut technique you could adapt for Screen Printing or Photoetching:

Saved my Life once but I can’t explain how:

For VIDEO Learners:
I love Deke – here’s where to find him:
Photoshop CS5 Tutorials | Deke's Techniques

Other Video Tutorials:

PAY to LEARN (via subscription) always some free stuff here as well:


As if Photoshop isn’t enough – OTHER COOL SOFTWARE:
http://www.portraitprofessional.com/


OTHER RESOURCES:
When you’d just rather pay someone else to do it for you:



Sunday, May 1, 2011

Spring 2011: STAINED GLASS TOURS and WORKSHOPS at Glencairn Museum

Glencairn Museum. Bryn Athyn PA

May 14, 2011 TOUR/DEMO: Understanding Medieval Stained Glass

Over a thousand years ago three guilds of craftsmen worked collaboratively to create the sacred art of stained glass. This 3 hour tour will focus on the roles of the artisans that made windows for the medieval cathedrals and include a demonstration of historic techniques. Participants will be treated to a rare behind the scenes look at the extraordinary medieval stained glass at Glencairn Museum, the nation’s finest collection in a private museum.

Tour/Demo: Understanding Medieval Stained Glass

FEE: $35pp 
DATE: May 5, 1-4PM
Maximum Size: 10
Register at Glencairn 
Contact Doreen Carey at 267-502-2981 or doreen.carey@glencairnmuseum.org 


June 3-4, 2011 – WORKSHOP: Make a Leaded Glass Panel

Within the medieval cathedral, the sacred space was transformed by shafts of colored light passing thru stained glass windows. For hundreds of years this art form was available only to the church and the royals of the land. Using techniques which date from the gothic period, students in this introductory class will learn to cut glass and assemble a small panel with lead came. No experience is necessary. Children, age 12 and up, can take this class if accompanied by a paying adult.

Students make a panel like this!

FEE: $225 
Class length: 2 Days
DATES: June 3 & 4
Daily schedule: Friday 1PM -4:30 PM, Saturday 11:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Maximum Class Size: 10
Register at Glencairn 
Contact Doreen Carey at 267-502-2981 or doreen.carey@glencairnmuseum.org 


ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:


J. Kenneth Leap has been painting on glass for 25 years. He currently holds a position as the Education Chair of the American Glass Guild. He is the Stained Glass Artist in Residence at  Glencairn Museum. He is an associate artist at the Wheaton Arts & Cultural Center in Millville, NJ where he maintains a studio and offers additional classes. For more information please visit www.jkennethleap.com.

ABOUT GLENCAIRN:


Glencairn, located in Bryn Athyn, PA was the home of Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn, built in the Romanesque style between 1928 and 1939. Glencairn now serves as a museum of the history of religion. The museum houses an extraordinary collection of French medieval stained glass panels on par with the finest examples in the Cloisters or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For more information about Glencairn visit www.glencairnmuseum.org