This is a collage piece from one of my art journals that used a ghostly-looking image transfer of a young woman. Some people ask why anyone would want to use a transfer rather than simply collage the actual picture or a copy of it into the work. The usual reason is because the artist is looking for that transparent, irregular quality which simple cut and paste cannot achieve. Look at the image again and notice how you can see right through the woman.
This piece was made with an inkjet printout on plain copy paper…nothing fancy, not coated paper or even particularly heavy. This type of transfer will give you the most irregular and ghostly results. In fact, the results are almost always a surprise!
This transfer method reverses the image, so if you might want to reverse it in an image editing program if direction is important, especially if there is text involved!
1. Prepare your receiving paper by painting it and adding any other images that you might want to be underneath your transfer, showing through.
2. Apply a thin layer of polymer gloss medium to the receiving paper. Quickly position your image, print side down, and burnish it well.
3. Peal up the image paper before it begins to stick too badly. It takes practice to know exactly how long this will take, but don’t worry…irregular is GOOD! If some of the white paper sticks, it can be easily rubbed off with moistened fingers after the polymer medium dries.
4. Top your piece with matte medium after it dries if you don’t want a shiny surface.
That's it! A full list of all my image transfer tutorials can be found here or in the sidebar.
Copyright 2007 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.
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