How to Paint a Suncatcher

My first attempt to use suncatcher paint to tint eyeglasses was a failure.  The paint was extremely streaky, as in the picture below.

Therefore, my thought was I might need to learn the proper technique for using suncatcher paint.  Although I did not go searching for suncatcher technique itself, I did research stained glass paint.  I purchased a couple bottles of said paint as another lens tinting test.  The bottle instructed me to check the company's website for instructions.  It seems that stained glass paint is not brushed on.  The paint is poured between the raised lead lines, filling the space with liquid.  A special tool is then used to smooth out the surface and remove air bubbles.  This, I thought, should be the same technique for a suncatcher.

While shopping at the Dollar Tree, I came across a $1 suncatcher, so I thought this was a perfect opportunity to test this technique.  Using a paint brush, I dabbed paint into the sections of the suncatcher without stroking.

As you can see from the picture above, this technique resulted in a streak-free filling of the suncatcher.  This was very encouraging, so I decided to see how transparent the paint was.

As you can see from the two pictures above, the blue section of the suncatcher worked very well as a tint, adding to my encouraged feeling about the technique as a method of tinting eyeglasses.  What the picture does not show is the bubbles remaining in the paint.

Although I did dab in the paint, I forgot to run a stick through it to get rid of the air bubbles.  It is interesting to note that the bubbles are visible but apparently did not impair the vision through the paint in the previous picture.  At this point, then, I decided to test the paint I used for The Suncatcher Method, test #1.

Above is the result of that test.  The paint from the original test is streak free on the suncatcher using the dabbing technique.  To further test my hypothesis that technique was my downfall, I used some of the Dollar Tree paint but brushed it on.  Below is the result.

It streaked just like the paint on the eyeglasses.  The trick, then, is to dab the paint into the sections rather than brush them in.  However, the picture above clearly shows the dabbed green section to have uneven coloring.  On closer inspection, I noticed that there were several sections in which the paint dried unevenly, pulled away from the lines leaving gaps, or was so thin it cracked.  I will have to keep this in mind when I move on to Suncatcher Method, test #2.