Friday 24 February 2012

Playing around with image transfer

Still nursing a very persistent cold, but getting better slowly. But I didn't want to miss another Paint Part Friday, so I dragged myself off the sofa and into my studio to experiment a little in my art journal. I really like the technique of image transfer. I've learnt different techniques in different e-courses, and even bought a whole book just about image transfer. But my first attempts weren't really very successful. So today, I decided to give it another tr.

This is the image I chose for the transfer. I took this during a glorious winter morning walk. Well, I admit, it wasn't actually snowing that day. I added that later in Photoshop, but never mind...


I wanted to create an earthy, natural page matching th colours in the image. And what's more earthy and natural than Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Burtn Sienna.


And in addition some Payne's Grey and of course Titanium White.


For the image transfer, I used gel medium. The first attempt didn't work at all. Although admittedly that was because I applied the gel medium to the wrong side of the image. Always remember: the gel medium goes on the printed side, NOT the backside... I decided to use the image after all and just pasted it on to the page.


The second attempt was much better. It actually worked! Okay, I admit, it does not look that great. But compared with my former attempts, this is actually very good indeed. Choosing similar colours for the painted layer underneath probably also wasn't such a good idea after all.

 At the bottom, I tried some image transfer using book paper. And that really worked very well.


I really like the book paper transfer. Though I'm never really 100 % sure when and if I've managed to remove all of the paper. It's delicate, this image transfer thing. If you rub too much, the whole printed part starts coming off too.


I decided to try and add some words. When transferring words, remember to invert them before printing them out, otherwise you won't be able to read them properly. That's obviously what happens when you transfer book paper, although I think it doesn't really matter much here, as you're not really going to read the text. But with words, it's another matter. It's also a good idea to cut off as much of the paper as possible. Less paper means less rubbing.


Patience isn't really one of my strenghts, but with image transfer, you have to be patient. When transfering on to a painted surface, you'll have to let it dry completely before you can wet it again and start rubbing the paper off. But also when you print out images, or words, you'll have to let the ink dry first before attempting to transfer them.

So I decided to play around with some photos in the meantime. I used an old photo of some English castle, cut it to a square format, and just painted over it with acrylic paint. I have a whole pile of old photos I meant to throw away, but now I'll hang on to them for experimental purposes. This is really fun :)


Of course I needed to extend my palette for this: some beautiful Cerulean Blue to transform that dull grey English sky into a bright blue summer's day.


When I was done with that, the ink was sufficiently dry, and I transfered the words on to the page to finish it off. I didn't manage to get all of the paper off at the end. The ink started to smudge when it got too wet. But I'm not too bothered about it. I think it works well enough. Maybe a laser printer would be better for this?


All in all, I'm quite pleased with this morning's image transfering. Not perfect yet, but I'll keep on experimenting.

My palette is getting a bit messy. Maybe I should give it a good clean. It doesn't bother me to work with it like this, but it doesn't really look so good on the photos, with all these layers...


Happy Paint Party Friday! Do hop over and have a look at all the talented and inspiring artists there!
Everything got into one long post this week, so I'm also linking this up with Palette & Paint. Do go and visit and see what everyone else has on their palette!

32 comments:

  1. I have never tried to do an image transfer, but it looks fun.

    Have a nice weekend!

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  2. This image transfer thing is really interesting. I've no idea how to do it but I've read about it on a couple of blogs before. I think it turned out really well. I love the look of the journal pages - how they look really old and worn.

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  3. Wonderful effects. Happy PPF and enjoy the weekend, Annette x

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  4. Love your transfer ~ photo is beautiful and do hope you are getting better each day ~namaste,carol (A Creative Harbor) Happy PPF ^_^

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  5. Love that color palette! I have given up on image transfer because it never seems to work for me. Happy PPF!
    Rinda

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  6. ooooo, the image transfers are so beautiful. The colors (and image) you chose are perfect. I know nothing about transfers but i certainly LOVE the end result. And your color palette is perfect just the way it is. :-) Happy PPF! xoxo

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  7. Fascinating experiments! Painting over a photo - what an intriguing idea! I love your version.

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  8. Nice! I'm with you on the patience thing though, I can never seem to wait to do the transfer correctly! Happy Friday!

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  9. Your transfer looks great. The castle is fabulous!! I have some old photos that I can't wait to try this with!! Thanks for the inspiration!!!!!

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  10. thanks for describing your process, lovely pieces!

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  11. So inspiring! I love seeing your process and palette!
    Your work has a wonderful earthy, weathered feel to it because of your color choice and subject matter.
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  12. I like the texture of colors extruding pot recently, is a work of art in the palettes right?, my shoulders tend to be very dirty (layer upon layer) is my way of working. Saludos

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  13. What a cool post! Image transfer sounds intriguing. I think what you came up with looks really lovely (I love Queen Anne's lace!).

    Your castle looks great, too. Never thought of painting over a photo, but it does sound like fun!

    Happy PPF!

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  14. Great transfer. I've only tried the process once and I messed it up big time. lol Yours is wonderful! Great idea about painting over the old photos as well.
    Stay inspired!

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  15. oh LOVE transfers. This turned out so well. And those pictures of the paint and all that texture. Gorgeous!

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  16. This was a totally new idea to me and it has opened up so many possibilities. Thank you so much for sharing so much of the process. I think your transfers were lovely. I actually thought your palette looked like a painting as well with all of its beautiful colors.

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  17. this is so very beautiful. I love the ancient look of it and the images you've chosen. It's amazing.

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  18. I don't believe I've heard of image transfer so thank you for sharing with us. Love the ancient painting. :)

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  19. Interesting experiments which I can't wait to try .Thanks for the tutorial.Yours turned out perfect.

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  20. I hope you get to feeling better really soon! Your journal work is beautiful and inspiring!! Thanks for sharing!

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  21. I had a go with image transfers late last year but haven't ventured back after it was all a bit stressful... mine didn't turn out anywhere near as beautifully as your page has...maybe I need to revisit it... have a wonderful week and thanks for those gorgeous pics of your paint and palette... how gorgeous and lush are those shots... awesome..xx

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  22. Great job, the pages look beautiful. That original photo with photoshopping looks awesome, too! Very creative! Thank you for sharing and happy PPF! <3

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  23. Beautiful transfers! The book text is a really great effect. I love the acrylic painting on the photo...gives me lots of ideas.

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  24. I love the umbel flower, one of my favourite plant groups. what you have done is DELICIOUS....you got me going now..transfers are ace!!!!
    xxx

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  25. Some fascinating and really creative stuff going on here. I haven't heard of this image transfer method before so it's all the more interesting to me. I don't want to detract from all your hugely creative efforts at all, but I must admit that I really, REALLY, like the images of the paint itself, especially your palette. I know, you're probably raising your eyebrows to the skies with a big sigh, but I don't mean it's better than your artwork - it just looks so "sexy" in an arty way, if that makes sense (which it probably doesn't!)

    Anyway, sorry I have been away for so long - huge long days at work and then I found I was putting myself under too much pressure with art/photography overload that I wasn't really getting time to unwind and relax in the evenings. Something's going wrong when you realise you're not doing it because you like it, but because you feel you have to.

    So, I'm going to be a bit more random than reliable, but it's good to catch up and read some of your posts again. So sorry you've had a horrible cold - I really hope it's clearing up now!

    x.

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  26. Firstly I hope you've recover fully and fast from your cold, nothing worse than being sick. Your photos of your paints are wonderful as always, they have me drooling from the corner of my mouth! Thanks for joining in the P&P, it's always a pleasure to have you play along. Great photo (and editing skills) of the wish blowing plant (what are they called?) and fantastic transfer, it's got a really lovely fell to it, a vintage feel. Great painting of the English castle too, you have been busy!

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  27. This is a great post. I enjoyed it very much. The art is wonderful.
    Nicole/Beadwright

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  28. This is gorgeous work- I think I like your photos as much as I like your art, and I LOVE your art! Thanks for sharing the Image transfer tips, I've always wanted to try that technique and now, I'll know what to expect!
    Oh, and one thing I've done before with painting on old photos is to attach family pictures onto canvas and paint over those- makes a marvelous gift AND it's relatively quick and easy :D

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  29. I'm just getting back into acrylics, your work inspires me to give my least favorite medium a chance again. Lovely to find you while surfing today :)

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  30. I just found your page on Facebook and liked it. Your image transfers look good. Even the imperfect ones are usually interesting visually. Have you tried transferring directly into paint or gesso? It takes a lot of rubbing, but the end result is really beautiful.

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