Today's postings

  1. [Baren 35996] Re: Transferring photocopies (Jan Telfer)
  2. [Baren 35997] Re: Transferring photocopies (Dave Bull)
  3. [Baren 35998] Photo transfer (Shane Chick)
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Message 1
From: Jan Telfer
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:04:24 +0800
Subject: [Baren 35996] Re: Transferring photocopies
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Thank you Dave..... I should really go back to my "roots" and use the
ganpi paper or my very fine Japanese calligraphic paper but I have
found that photocopying and previously transferring the images with
mineral turpentine if the photocopies were carbon toners were so much
easier and started to rely on that method.

As Charles explained:


> As for the print transfer .... The problem with the copiers is not
> with the tint material ... carbon vs non-carbon. Rather it is in the
> carrier of the tint. Most commercial copiers (all??) use plastic as
> the carrier. The toner is electrostatically transferred to the paper,
> and then it is fused (i.e. melted) by passing through a couple of
> heated rollers.
>  
> So, sufficient heat will certainly transfer the image, as it will just
> re-fuse the toner. The problem is where to get sufficient heat.
> Standard household irons produced these days do not get hot enough. An
> OLD iron might well do the trick. You might try a heat gun ... the
> sort used for removing paint ... but be very careful, as these will
> certainly put out enough heat to set the paper on fire. Mine has a
> fine control so you can set the heat. I would either use a scaraper
> attachement that fits on the output nozzle of the heat gun, or use a
> metal putty knife pressed down on the paper, with heat gun applied to
> the putty knife.

And I couldn't budge the copy until I used my iron.

I suppose with new computer copiers and printers we are going to have
to continually renew our transfer methods or use the traditional
techniques or hand drawn ones. Many of my prints Maria I don't
actually use a keyblock but transferring a fine line drawing "keyblock"
is how I have been printing my images by just cutting the colour areas
from my "colour by numbers" illustration sheets - one sheet per colour.

It is nice to know that even though we all use different methods and
techniques in transferring, carving and printing we seem to end up with
similar results!!

Happy printing,
Jan
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Message 2
From: Dave Bull
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:14:01 +0900
Subject: [Baren 35997] Re: Transferring photocopies
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> Thank you Dave..... I should really go back to my "roots"
> and use the ganpi paper or my very fine Japanese calligraphic
> paper but I have found that photocopying and previously
> transferring the images with mineral turpentine if the
> photocopies were carbon toners were so much easier
> and started to rely on that method.

Well, the reason I 'promote' it over the other methods is the _absolute
sharpness_ and clarity that is obtainable - something important for my
own type of work.

http://www.woodblock.com/surimono/process/process_1.html

And I don't see how it could possibly get any 'easier'. Print it, paste
it down, peel it off, and carve.

Anyway, each to his own ...

Dave
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Message 3
From: Shane Chick
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:50:05 -0400
Subject: [Baren 35998] Photo transfer
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I don't know if anyone has suggested this but I will anyway.

I reverse my image on the photocopier at Kinkos and instead of transferring the hard way, I glue the whole photocopy of my drawing with regular old yellow glue. I apply a thin layer of glue to the block only within the pre-traced area of my image with a stiff piece of cardstock. I then lay the image on carefully and as flat as I can manage. I do not try to smooth the photocopy too much, when I run it through the press I rely on the pressure to take care of that. I find that I need to go back and forth a bunch of times until I get bored before the glue is dry. I generally will have some spots where the glue was too thin or dried too quickly or I will have bubbles. I deal with this by either using a pin to pierce the bubbles and rub the with my fingers or cut around one half of the bubble, if they are bigger, and peel the paper back to apply more glue. I then repeat the back and forth through the press. Attention to detail and being organized are the key here.

I have been told that at this point I should use some of that 3-in-1 oil to soften the paper, I haven't done this but my boss swears by it. Perhaps I will experiment more with this. I finish the process up by painting the whole block with a thin coat of acrylic medium. I like the wipeabilty this allows, since I occasionally still use thinner or mineral spirits, or when I use a soy solvent. The acrylic doesn't seem to allow the solvents to penetrate the wood and I don't have to deal with that the next time I ink up the block.

one drawback to this method is that when you make cuts that are really close together your paper will sometimes peel. My boss says that's why he uses the oil. I find that if I took the time, and that is relative since the glue dries very quickly when it is that thin, my paper only peels minimally and that I am able to use this in designing the print.

Another method I experimented with in college was using iron-on t-shirt transfers. I found this to work pretty well but occasionally it would melt the image too much and I would have to sand a bit to get the paper to lay down. I think the combination of the acrylic and t-shirt transfer would make this method much better. Of course you can only have an image that is a maximum of 8.5x11 and that is limiting.

Those are hopefully not too sophomoric and I haven't been "lurking" long enough to know if the have already been suggested. I also do not use either of these methods as a means of reproduction, more as a point of departure, as I feel the real creative process only starts as I begin to carve. I also feel that if I were using this method as a means of appropriation that I would be able to alter the image enough to call it my own, though I tend not to do that to begin with. I like being able to use my own drawings without having to draw them right on the block and I also like that I can print using the composition that I originally intended.

thanks for tolerating my 2 cents.
Al ich chan - Jan van Eyck

Shane Chick