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Week 6:
Titling your piece is a crucial finishing touch to your abstract paintings; they make sense of your piece, they help the viewer connect to your work. One of my favorite ways to title a painting is by going through my playlist. You may be surprised what you find!
Image transfer is fun way to infuse images into your work, but it is technical.
Here how to photo transfer step-by-step with gel:
Step 1: Brush a smooth, even layer of gel medium onto your surface.
• Not too thin, not too thick - you want it wet enough to grab the ink, but not so much that it oozes everywhere.
Step 2: Place the image face down
Step 3: Burnish the image
• Burnish (rub firmly) with your tool so the paper makes good contact. Keep the image still.
Step 3: Dry completely
• You can let it air-dry (hours/overnight) or speed it up with a hair dryer/heat gun.
• Patience here matters because if you rush, you’ll just peel up wet paper.
Step 4: Remove the Paper
• Spray the back of the paper with water until damp.
• Rub gently with fingers/sponge - the paper pulp will roll away.
• Take it slow, or you’ll rub off parts of the transfer too.
Step 5: Reveal & Seal
• Keep rubbing until the paper fibers are gone.
• Seal with a thin coat of gel medium or matte medium to protect it.
Notice how the image looks a little imperfect - sometimes patchy, sometimes ghostly. That’s part of the beauty of transfers. You can layer several on top of each other, combine them with paint, or even transfer onto fabric or wood for different textures.
For next week (part 4), think about what images you choose, personal photos tell a story, while magazine clippings can add surreal or unexpected elements.
Materials you'll need specifically for image transfer (in addition to the rest of the materials for the course):
*How to select images for image transfer:
You can use pictures of any subject matter, colored or black and white, as long as it's HIGH CONTRAST and printed with LASER PRINTER (not Inkjet). Keep in mind that some images may be reversed, depending on the transfer technique (not recommended to choose words. If you really want words, you'll need to reverse them before printing).
If you don't have access to a laser printer, pictures from magazines also work.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
If you'd like to create a new artwork inspired by Basquiat:
Robert Rauschenberg
If you'd like to create a new piece, or want to be reminded of the steps we followed in class, here they are:
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