Laser-etched glass art with hand-coloring

I made this partly at TechShop, an amazing place with several outposts in the US. It's a production shop with tools for metalworking, woodworking, industrial sewing, vinyl banner cutting, electronics and arduino, laser cutting and more: http://www.techshop.ws

Step 1: Etching the glass plate

On this laser you can etch wood, paper, acrylic, glass, ceramic, anodized metal, chocolate (!) and more. You can also cut wood, paper and acrylic but not glass etc.

* I got a local glass shop to make me some 8" x 8" plates and created a 7" x 7" design in Adobe Illustrator. (Always get extra material in case you make mistakes.)
* I wanted to put the design on the back of the glass, so I flopped the design so it was backwards and would be right-way-round from the front.
* I put the design on a flash drive, transferred it to the computer attached to the laser and opened the file.
* I adjusted the settings for glass, hit Print and started the laser.
* The video shows the laser on a different project but you get the idea.

Comments

[lime3D]

Which method did you find easier to use?

[nginzler]

Both were easy, actually, although the excess marker was a little harder to scrape off the glass. It really depends what look you want. I like the more delicate handmade look of the paint -- the marker looks a little machine-made because the color is so even.