Many mixed media artists find their hearts beating a little faster at the mention of 'transfers'. It is such a fun, satisfying process. And there are tons of ways to achieve a transfer. Well, there is a new kid on the block, and you had to know it would be inevitable that someone would try this.
A year or so ago, Polaroid put out a new mini printer called the Pogo. I love it, and would recommend it to anyone who likes adding interesting elements to their art journals. Like it's older more sophisticated cousin, the Polaroid Transfer, these little mini pictures can be manipulated as well. Here is an excellent video explaining six different options. I played around with all of these, and am posting some of my results below. Because they are so small (2" X 3") they are hard to see clearly.
All the processes take practice to come up with something reliable. You really have to watch the video (it is quick!) for understanding the steps to try these. My favorite, was probably the sanding techniques because they produced a good 'vintage' feel.
These were all from the same printed photo. Orang-ish was the top film layer that came off after soaking it 30-40 minutes. I returned the image to soak ten more minutes, then laid face down (on dampened spot) and rubbed, getting the pink layer. The blue layer is what is left of the picture itself, which I just attached by it's sticky back.
Top Right: involved sanding, acetone and quick flash of a lighter applied to surface. I don't think mine turned out like the video sample at all. Bottom 3 photos, I sanded the Zink paper before printing. The one of Ivy that seems to have reddish streaks (far left), I applied some acetone with a q-tip. The sanding produces a good vintage look.
Top left
: After soaking pic 80-90 minutes, you apply face down to wet page, and transfer top layer of film. Note the very uneven edges as the film peels away. The blue image (top right) is what is left. You are supposed to be able to peel this away and apply to that first layer, but I couldn't get that to work. Bottom right: Ivy's face was soaked 30-40 minutes, then the top layer peeled off and applied to the page with matte medium. You can see uneven edges that occur from the peeling off. Bottom left: This is a little harder to see. The image is worked over and over with a wet sponge, then scrape at edges with a wire brush. Then go around the edges to sort of 'burn' with a lighter.
Up till now, the directions called for sanding (and acetone if desired) BEFORE printing. I wondered if it could be done AFTER printing, so I tried it on this pic. I thought it worked fine. See the reddish streaks? That is the addition of acetone by q-tips
