gel transfers

Starting out with a couple of small 'canvases' and some photocopies I want to transfer on to the canvases. The canvases are pieces of cardboard I've painted with acrylics, and then with a coat of Golden Medium (acrylic polymer, used to extend acrylics, or seal them with a matte or glossy finish, or a variety of other cool effects, depending on the stiffness or viscosity of the particular weight of medium you choose to buy).

The coat of Medium on top of the acrylic is a good surface for the toner in the photocopies to adhere to. This coat is completely DRY.



Cutting out what I want to transfer. The less paper around the image, the better. You're gonna rub it off later anyway, save yourself some time and work (and numb fingers).




Placing the image face-down on the canvas, after coating it with a layer of medium (I like to use my fingers, to get a feel for it). Do NOT let the medium dry now, slap that image on to the canvas! Then I use a brayer to squeeze out air bubbles, and excess gel medium. Wipe it all away around the edges.



Here's the next image I chose, which is a photocopy of a block print I carved, and printed with water soluble ink. You gotta make photocopies or printer-prints (like from a computer) in order to do the gel transfer method.


Layering the gel medium on (this is what transfers the image)




After it's dry, rub away the paper. Use a little bit of water at a time. And be patient It's a rather lengthy process. And make sure that it's dry before you start wetting it, or the image won't transfer completely.




I always brush another coat of gel medium after all the paper is rubbed off, and the image remains. Makes it look better (usually); otherwise, it's pretty dull. This will bring out the luster.




I like this shot:


Here's the other, all done:




Here's the one I painted tonight. I drew earlier today before work (on the right), then at work I photocopied my pencil drawing (the one on the left!):




Here's the original photograph


I left two blank spaces on the canvas after I decided what sort of background I wanted. I painted again with acrylics. The picture below is after I've painted a coat of gel medium over it. I decided to do that on the whole canvas so that I could go back over areas of it with a ZIG pen (see below):





Now I've pasted the photocopied images on to the canvas, with the gel medium, and squeegee-ing the air bubbles out:



Here's the finished piece:





I like this part of it too, so a close-up:


One more of the guys:



Now you try!!!

:-D