Image transfers began to appear in the 50's and 60's and at first were done with harsh chemicals and solvents, but many safe alternatives are available today. Colorless blending markers, acrylic mediums and a variety of glues can be used to transfer or apply photocopies, newspapers, magazines, drawings and cut paper. Shapes and images can be made from textured or colored paper to add interest and depth to a piece and any type of paint or drawing medium can be included over, under and around your applied images. Acrylic transfers can be layered on top of one another to create stunning translucent collage effects.

The options with layering are limitless and only experimentation can establish what works for you. Your mistakes will be as valuable to the learning process as your successes, so don't be afraid to try it all.

Click here to see the unique combinations of cut paper and painting by this month's spotlight artist Nate Wragg.

This piece was created by transferring images with acrylic medium, click here for instructions. 

What You'll Need:

• Acrylic Gel Medium (Gloss or Matte)
• Paintbrush (Flat or Bright)
• Printmaking Baren or Roller
• Photocopies, Color Prints or Newspaper and Magazine Images
• A surface to Transfer on to (Canvas, Artist Panel, Wood)
• A container of water
• A sponge (optional)

Direct Transfer:

With the direct transfer method you will be placing your photocopied image onto your surface, this will give you a mirror image, so if you have text that you want to remain legible it's best to flip the image before printing it using Photoshop or another program. Start by putting a thin layer of acrylic gel medium onto your photocopy. Too much will cause the image to slip around and too little will prevent the image from transferring. You want to use just enough to make the surface tacky. Now, lay it face down on your surface (we've chosen an artist panel).

         

You'll need to smooth out any lumps of medium and create a nice solid contact between your board and photocopy. We're using a printmaking brayer, but a baren is also effective and can apply a great deal more pressure. If you dont have either of these, the back of a spoon or other smooth tool will work (make sure it's smooth, you don't want it sticking to the paper as it may cause your image to shift). Allow the medium to dry for 10-15 minutes then peel back a corner to see if the image has transfered. If some of the image has not transfered and the medium is still wet, flatten it back down and wait an additional 10-15 minutes.

             

Now it's time to remove the excess paper from your canvas. When the paper is gone only the image should be left behind. Take a drop of water on your fingertip and gently rub away the paper, your image should begin to appear darker and more pronounced. For this step some like to use a sponge to remove the paper, but using your finger allows you to really feel when the paper is gone and only the surface of your canvas or panel remains.

           

Now that all the paper is removed you can see the image transfered onto your surface. Here is where you can have some fun with additonal layers of acrylic paint (if your an oil painter you can paint over the acrylic medium just as easily, but you won't bae able to adhere anymore acrylic transfers). We're going to add a little color to this map, first with a layer of blue violet (ultramarine + alizarin crimson) mixed with a hearty amount of our gel medium (for added translucence).

           

An additional layer of burnt sienna (in this case, a watery glaze) adds a nice earth tone and now we're ready to move on to the next style of transfer. We'll be putting this transfer right over top of our current image.

         

Acrylic Image Transfer:

This time we'll use a color image. This is a color copy, but magazine images work just as well. Coat your image with your gel medium, at least three coats, allowing time to dry in between. The first horizontal, the second vertical and the third on a diagonal, this will prevent gaps in your acrylic. Allow it to dry for at least four hours, giving the medium ample time to soak up the ink. *You can get as thick as you want to create a textured surface, but it will extend drying time and you may have to wait a day or two before you can continue your transfer.* When your medium is completely dry soak your image in luke warm water for 20-30 minutes.

         

Remove the image from it's bath and lay it out on wax paper and paper towels. After all that soaking your image may appear milky, don't worry, as it dries the medium will become clear again. Turn the image over and you should be able to peel off the paper. Check a small piece to make sure it's working. If the paper is not coming off you may need to return it to the bath.

         

Lay the image face down on the wax paper and roll the excess paper off the back. As it dries you may see remnants of paper begin to reappear. You can take a drop of water and rub it away (similar to what we did with the direct transfer). Now that all the paper is off it's time to allow your image to dry before adding it to your canvas. Layer it between sheets of wax paper and paper towels and place something flat and heavy on it (we're using a few copies of our favorite periodical, the 2008 Utrecht Resource Guide).

         

Once dry, you can trim your image and apply it to your canvas or panel. Apply a thin layer of medium to the area of the panel where you're placing the image. When you're satisfied with the positioning add another coat over top to creat a tight seal. When the medium dries you can see the great translucent effect this gives to your work. You can add as many layers of images, glazes and medium as you want and you can paint right over top. Feel free to experiment!

         

 

 

Nate studied art and character animation at CAL ARTS in Los Angeles, California before accepting internships with the James Baxter Animation Studio in Pasadena, and in the in the art department at Pixar.  After his internships Nate joined Pixar as a full time production artist to work on Ratatouille.  He worked on all aspects of the film, including background props and small set designs as well as artwork for the marketing team, but Nate's most recognizable work on the film was the end title sequence. This outstanding work led to his illustrating the children's book for the film, and leading the production design for the short film on the DVD titled 'Your Friend the Rat.' 

Nate is currently working on Toy Story 3 as a character designer and is making his way into the art gallery and publishing scene.  He collaborated on the 'The Ancient Book of Myth and War' in 2007 and released the book with a gallery show in LA. Subsequently he's been working on more book projects and has shown his work in a few other galleries, most notably, the New York Society of Illustrators gallery show earlier this year.

You can see more of Nate's work here.

Observational drawing is the way to exercise the connection between what the eyes see and what ends up on paper or canvas. It requires focus as well as attention to detail and the ability to find relationships. The relationship of one object to another and the relationship of those objects in space. The practice of observational drawing will improve concentration, drawing skill and your overall ability to see the world around you.

Observational drawing can include cityscapes, landscapes, a small or large still life, friends and family, interiors or exteriors... Pretty much anything that you can find to look at and draw. Here are a few ideas:

• On nice days take an hour to do a drawing in your local park or at the zoo.
• Sit in front of a mirror or other reflective surface and create a self portrait.
• Choose a few objects that you feel represent you and set up a still life.
• Hold a small object in your hand and spend 10 minutes sketching it.
• Have a friend or family member pose for a portrait.

Remember to keep looking back and forth from your drawing to your reference. You should spend almost as much time observing and evaluating as you are making marks on your page.

Good luck and keep drawing!

Former Mt. Rainier climbing guide and Portland native Kurt D. Hollomon has been art director, designer and now illustrator as well as teacher of drawing and illustration at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon.

Kurt is a crafter of images; drawings, maps and sketchbook journals documenting everyday life with direct observational drawing. His use of type and color and his drawing collages are key identifiers to his current working method. Kurt fills his sketchbooks with purposeful compositions of pen drawings accented with chalk pastels, watercolor paintings and hand drawn typography.

You can see more of Kurt's sketchbooks and illustrations here.

- John Singer Sargent

Many students and aspiring artists want to know how to improve their drawing skills. The answer of course is practice, and a great way to practice is to keep a sketchbook, but it doesn't have to just be an academic exercise....

The artist's sketchbook is a time honored tradition from the days of DaVinci to the painters, illustrators and designers of today.  It can be a personal journal, a notebook on current or upcoming projects or a random collection of drawings, inspiration and ideas. Fill it with studies for paintings or drawings from observation, imagination or memory. Collect photos, scraps and tidbits from newspapers or magazines  or found objects that inspire you. Use it to gather your thoughts or improve your techniques.

A tool of observation or invention, the sketchbook can be the jumping off point for a project or a finished work of art (or anywhere in between). Regardless of its final goal, the sketchbook is something every artist should keep close at hand in the studio or on the road.

Spotlight Artist Kurt Hollomon's Sketchbook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See more of Anki's work here.

Kimanne Smith's
PAINTING PROCESS

Kimanne Smith has been an oil painter for over 25 years.  Her work is based on traditional oil portraiture in that she is able to capture a likeness of the sitter, however she likes to show more of the painting process than a traditional oil portrait does.  She feels that a painting should not just try to imitate a photograph, but it should also be about the paint itself.

You can see where she begins with oil washes and drips of paint.  Next, she incorporates a wax medium (Dorland¹s Wax Medium) which is a soft wax (and sometimes mixes paint into it) applying it with a palette knife.  After it dries, she uses scumbling, brush strokes and the palette knife to complete the painting.

In this way, the painting emotes depth through these various paint layers which gives the portrait a more intriguing and engaging appearance.  It also gives you a sense of spirituality.

Work Examples

 

 

Single Pigment Artist Paints
The best results in painting come from use of colors based on just one pigment, as opposed to a mixture of multiple ingredients or pigments. A single-pigment color will mix truer and more predictably, and will give the benefit of maximum chromatic intensity possible for that pigment.

Have a plan. It makes little sense to attack your painting without some sort of process in place. Creating preliminary sketches and studies (smaller versions of the painting) will help you work through a number of the pictorial issues in advance at a much smaller scale and within a controlled number of variables.  This will make it easier for you to create the finished larger piece without spending precious time working on problems that may have been solved at a much earlier and smaller stage.

Step 1:
Select a canvas cross brace measuring equal to or greater than the narrower dimension of your stretcher frame; cut to fit exactly inside the frame.

Step 2:
Attach cross brace to frame using one T-Plate at each end of cross brace, as illustrated in the image below.*

*Note: Do not glue brace to frame; never glue the joints of stretcher bar frames.

The term canvas generally speaking is a heavy, tightly-woven fabric which can apply to any of the following materials; cotton, linen, jute and polyester. Now canvases are being made available that are combination weaves containing cotton and polyester.

Mix Paints as Little as Possible
When you are mixing your paint, try to keep your color as pure as possible. Don't over-mix your colors.  Use too many colors together, and your painting will begin to look over-worked and muddy. Try to find the shortest distance between two points - the least number of colors to mix - in order to capture the color that you are going for.

The tutorials include step-by-step instructions as well as images.  Most of the lessons are for specific objectives, like 'drawing trees' or 'landscape painting' rather than general subjects.  You will certainly find some tips that will help you with your artwork - particularly if you are a beginner.

A piece of art represents a unique expression of your time and effort. You may finish a particularly work-intensive piece and then have to do considerably more work to get a gallery show. And then, what happens if your seven-foot sculpture doesn’t sell during its one month in the spotlight? You have to Uhaul it back to your workspace and pray for a studio visit from the right person.

A website shows your work to a collector, a gallery, or an admirer at their convenience and with no trouble to you. These can be people you reach out to or people who have never heard of you but find your site on the web. Your website is your storefront, your perpetual gallery to the world.

Cotton Duck Canvas is made from the threads of the cotton plant which are spun into larger fibers, offering moderate strength.These fibers are then woven into a heavy canvas which is rated on a numerical grade system of thickness from 1 to 10, 1 being the heaviest and 10 being the lightest. Cotton is readily available and relatively inexpensive, making this canvas type the most popular for artists to use.

To make your color grid, you will make a space on the page for each color in your palette. Your marks on the page will be vertical and you will write in the color name for each color above the line you will make using that color. Before you begin making strokes on the page, take a waterproof black marker and draw a long, thick line of black horizontally across the halfway point on your page. Each vertical line you draw will bisect this line. Start simply with a thick black line across the page and vertical lines marking an area for each color you will add.

Leaving brushes to soak in water or thinner will dry out the hairs, make them prone to breaking and permanently bend the ends. For late-night painting sessions followed by more work in the morning, it’s better to wrap the brush heads in aluminum foil to keep oil brushes fresh, or plastic wrap for acrylics. When a proper washing is not possible, watercolor brushes should be rinsed, blotted and laid flat to dry.