Acid Etched Flashed Glass #3: Red glass

The red flash glass layer is very thick on all of the pieces and, in order to achieve the tone of red I require, I will be using two methods of acid etching: soaking in a bath and brushing (as described in my Acid Etched
Flashed Glass #2: Blue glass entry). I do not want to affect the finish of the reverse side of the glass through accidental acid contact, so I protect this first.  I prefer to use a plastic film for large areas of protection, otherwise known as resist.

Once the reverse is covered, I place the glass pieces working surface upwards into the acid bath.  I leave the glass to soak in the acid, returning regularly to brush off the eroded glass crystal dust, which allows the acid to work on the glass below, and also to assess how the colour of the red is being reduced to the tonal value I am after. Once the glass has achieved the tonal value I am after, I thoroughly wash down the glass to remove all traces of acid and making it safe to work with without gloves.  I then apply plastic resist to the work surface of the flashed glass, just leaving the areas I wish to achieve a gradation exposed.  I then use the brushing method from my Acid Etched Flashed Glass #2: Blue glass entry to achieve the gradation effect.

The finished glass is thoroughly washed, the plastic resist removed and the glass cleaned again.  It is now ready for inclusion in the panel, or suitable for further processing, such as painting or silver staining, as some of red on clear pieces were.

The last photographs shows part of the completed panel incorporating the glass processed in this entry.