Inkjet transfers with Australian materials

On Monday I decided to get methodical about a technique which can be challenging at best. For some reason, I love the idea of transfers. It offers so many options for working with imagery - both my own and "found images" from the public domain. So in order to sort out what I needed to do, I decided to test out some methods until I found one that I could get to work for me reliably.

Part of the issue with this is that while there is a lot of information and advice out there on the net and in books it all tends to be with American products. Some of those are available here but many are not, and by the time you order things online and pay postage, well... and besides, call me strange, but I like supporting Australian products.

I should explain that inkjet transfers seem to be more temperamental than those using laser copies or xerox/toner copies. There is a lot of variability between printer inks, gel mediums,transfer papers and method used. I bought a new photo printer before Christmas with one of the goals being to be able to use archival inks so that I could incorporate transfers into my artwork. After research I came home with a Canon Pixma i5200. The quality of the photos is great - I could not be happier, but I discovered that while the ChromaLife 100 inks it uses are just as archival as the ones used by Epsons, they are not waterproof. Luckily for me, this hasn't actually been the problem I thought it might. Surprisingly, you can spray the image with fixative or even hairspray (I prefer Cedel for that scent of the 60s....) and it will still transfer but it doesn't run. Go figure, as They say. So it should be known that after printing, each of the following transfer images were sprayed, in this case, with Micador fixative.

So here we go.

First I tested out Jonathon Talbot's method, which you can find here in its original form with full US supplies. I had used it successfully with a colour image in a work which appeared in an earlier post (thanks to Kelsey for her advice on this.)


You can see the problem I had - the green and red inks transfered separately. This was the same for both, although you can work through the green and achieve the sort of reddish brown you see here. The Golden definitely gives you a clearer image, which may or may not be what you are after with a transfer.







Next test: DJ Pettitt's method.

This method has been circulating furiously on the internet of late in the groups I frequent anyway, as has this modification. For some reason, I started with the modification but I just could not get it to work at all. It leaves a layer of gel on the receiving surface, and I could not pull off the transfer without pulling all or most of the gel right off the page. Obviously I was doing something wrong, but I moved on to the original method and here are the results. First I should discuss the issue of sandwich/deli paper. Just what is this? Well it is a very lightly waxed paper used to wrap sandwiches in deli's. It doesn't really look or feel waxed but it is greaseproof. You can't seem to get it in supermarkets in Australia. In the end I did a Yellow Pages search for catering supplies and found a lovely Queensland company who couriered me a very generous sample! Did I feel guilty! So I suppose I should give them a plug. You can find them at paperboys.com.au and I tried the Caxton Greaseproof Unbleached. However, these two transfers were done using Glad Bake which is available is supermarkets. You have to cut it to
size, which is a hassle, and feed it through your printer very carefully, but it will work. One tip though - make sure you use a nice sharp blade for cutting because any slight defect in the paper edge seems to send the printer mad.



Both of these were done with Golden soft gel (matte) which has proved the most hopeful in the test with the "modified method". I was really happy with this result. It's a little grainy - that's from the fixative spray, but I like the way the brush strokes show, there's good colour and good responsiveness to burnishing.






On Tuesday my "real" sandwich paper samples arrived, so I gave them a try.

And this is the result: Now this is onto canvas, and I have to say I was thrilled!

Well I hope this little review is of some help to someone, especially if you are in Australia and like me are finding the hunt for comparable materials a bit of a drag.

Topic #38 - Memory

My entry this week is an encaustic painting. This is a medium I am very new to, so I have a lot to learn. Even so, I find working with the wax absolutely fascinating and despite the challenges it presents I experience little or no frustration.

The building up of translucent layers really lent itself to this weeks theme. To me it represents the way memories become fuzzier over time. I started off working quite intuitively, putting down layers and scratching back to reveal hidden textures; then painting more layers of wax.

After a while I started to see a theme emerging of archaic time. The textures seemed geological and the scratching back reminded me of archeological digs. There is also a flavour of the primordial soup, I think. In order to integrate the image, I overlaid some structure in the final layers. Without that, the imagery was a bit too chaotic for my eye. I do hope you can see some of the layering and detail in the enlargement, because without that some of the meaning will be lost.

I am cheating a little, by posting my entry for last week here as well. As I explained in a previous post, I just wasn't happy with it last week, but when I returned to it this week, it somehow looked a lot better! You know how it is! It really does seem to capture the mood.

This photo was taken in our driveway in Melbourne after a day of 40 deg. celsius heat. It was about 10pm and a cool change came through, with the most gorgeous cooling breeze. The temperature must have dropped about 20 degrees in an hour or so - as it can in Melbourne. These bushes were blowing about and I have of course photoshopped them, to enhance the effect.

A Painting A-Day: The Last Week

I am running a bit late with this update on my Painting-A-Day (downgraded to the much less catchy A Painting Every Second Day here) so in fairness given the time extension I have created more work - eight pieces in all. The lateness was caused by some health issues (migraines provoked by the sudden onset of summer heat here in Brisbane) and the fact that I spent the week working mostly with wax (good choice for hot weather, I hear you say!).

One thing I love about wax is that if you don't like what you've created, you can melt it down or scrape it back and hey presto! start again! The trouble is, this is a little like computers, they don't save you any time, but you can end up with a better end result - it just depends how much patience you have....I am also pretty new to using wax so there is a lot to learn - but after this I feel somewhat more confident...dipping and collage are going okay but painting, well I'm not a painter, so I've got a lot to learn.

The collage shows the works in the order they were finished, and includes two entries for Artwords and one for Illustration Friday. You can see the red paper-cut for IF in my other blog, Amanda-IF and I will do a separate post for the Artwords entry for this week - Memories.

The first piece is a page for my second artists book. You can see my first one here. It is still coming together, but is about the transience of the body. This is a Sheer Heaven transfer of the heart, encased in wax. The working title for the book is "Preserve". There is a LOT more work to be done on this, as this is the first page I've completed. I was pleased to test out my techniques though and find it came together quite well.

Next is a digital entry for last weeks Artwords, which I wasn't really satisfied with and did not end up posting. The prompt was "wind" and it's a digitally altered photo of the wind rustling the trees in our driveway in Melbourne. Looking back a week later, I actually think it captures the theme reasonably well.

Third is an attempt at a collage I've been thinking about which explores the cyclical nature of existence through the lunar cycle. I wasn't at all happy with the woman in this and re-did it, as you can see in the second last piece. This one feels more true to my aesthetic, but still needs work.

Next is my second wax box. You can see more detailed images of this on Flickr. This one is constructed entirely of Japanese lace paper. I plan to make a series of these boxes as part of my masters work so you'll be seeing more of them in future posts.

Next is a red wax collage using Sheer Heaven transfers and inlaid wax drawing. It started as an experimental page for Preserve but I doubt it will be used now. The final piece is an encaustic painting incorporating a little collage and it's my Artwords entry so you'll have to wait for the Artwords post to read about it.

The great thing about this month has been that I have created a lot, explored themes and techniques I've had in mind for literally months, and most pleasingly, been really well and energetic through it all. Now if I could just manage to sustain this level of output, I think I might have a chance of finishing my MFA....

So the plan for the next month is to get working on masters pieces. I have scheduled a visit to Melbourne for late March and I want to have plenty of samples to take down with me. Tomorrow will be a big planning day. Over all, a great start to the year.