On any journey, the uncertainty of those first few steps into an imagined future is a perilous time. However, those steps are also among the most important and satisfying as you begin to envision your new stained glass and to breathe spiritual life into your sacred space.
    
The first step is the creation of “cartoons,” mechanical drawings which are developed from a client’s initial sketches and conversations about the stained glass installation. These cartoons/renderings act as blueprints for the stained glass artisans as they begin to prepare and assign color and cut glass into the myriad of pieces required to build the window. This is also the time you, the client, can review and make desired changes. Our work is completely interactive throughout. You know exactly what you are getting before the finished product arrives.
    
At King Richard’s, clients can make use of our library of hundreds of traditional stained glass cartoons representing some of the finest stained glass created by European trained craftsmen during the past two centuries. If new stained glass is sought, clients can access our classically trained artisans who can render new designs that appropriately reflect their subject choice and the devotional personality of the installation environment.
          
The final renderings can also be displayed and incorporated into fundraising literature as needed. Communicating the extent, style and quality of what is proposed to the parish community is essential to affirming the project and confirming financial support. Securing the parish’s backing is a key step along the journey made easier with King Richard’s renderings, drawings, presentations and collaboration during the entire art process.
   
As the largest buyer and installer of antique stained glass windows in the United States, King Richard’s is also the most experienced at reconfiguring windows from their original size and design. We can make 16-foot windows 8 feet tall, roman windows gothic and gothic windows roman. This is accomplished professionally via CAD or traditional hand-drawn watercolors created for your approval. Reconfiguring windows is a very specialized art and mediocre results have become common in recent years much to the disappointment of parishes expecting professional results by the artists. Many stained glass shops that have never attempted this kind of alteration before simply do not comprehend the entire scope of your project like a liturgical design firm does. The other issue that arises with these shops is they are driven by non-artistic cost (re-leading/installing) since they are not painting or creating these continuing works of art; their interest may not align with yours or your desired results.
   
As liturgical consultants and architectural providers, we have the expertise to take you from your first steps in creating your stained glass to your journey’s end, all with satisfaction guaranteed. We create the total vision, not just windows. This rare talent is the result of tens of thousands of hours of hands-on work and our study of sacred spaces.
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