At the beginning of every beautiful stained glass piece is a carefully designed stained glass patterns. As crazy as it may seem, some artists just have no idea where to look for the right pattern to start their project. Stained glass patterns can be created from just about anything. The only skills that it takes is an eye for things of beauty that you encounter on a daily basis, and a pen and paper. No more skills are needed or required.
A quick and easy option is to go online and purchase stained glass designs from a glass shop that sells pattern books, but this is an expensive option if you are on a budget. You can find the motivation and inspiration you need through your daily encounters and from the beauty that surrounds you everyday. If you are looking for a few ideas you can just take a look around the neighborhood and then find a design that might look good for a glass pattern. Try looking at other crafts and at their designs to see if you could get some new ideas for things you can do for a glass pattern. They can make for a great pattern and sometimes borrowing from another art form can give you something a little different then you get in the same glass pattern books. You might even have some piece of art that is around your house that you might be able to convert into a stained glass piece. The key to a great pattern is something that will be relatively easy to trace and does not have parts that are extremely intricate.
Once you have chosen your subject matter, the next step is to copy it onto tracing paper. Make sure you have some light coming into the room so you can make this job easy on yourself, or at least have a light around you so you can get a good trace. If need be, just get real close to a window so you can trace properly. When you're done tracing the pattern, you'll need to convert your pattern onto a couple of sheets of heavy paper. It's a good idea to keep a big file of all the patterns that you ever design on yourself. You just never know when you might want to alter them or use them for another project. You might be able to give back to the art world by making your free stained glass patterns available to other people that are looking for ideas With your other piece, that will be your actual working design.
The next time you are lacking motivation for a stained glass masterpiece, remember there are ideas all around you. It is very rewarding to be able to design your own pattern, then you know that the piece that you eventually will create will be truly unique. You need to keep in mind that a good glass pattern is just as important as all the stained glass supplies that you have in your shop.
