Urban Art Association

How To - Acrylic Gel Image Transfers, by Ripper1331 on Jan 22, 2008 22:50:23 GMT 1, Here's a very easy technique that is super cheap, safe with no crazy fumes and almost fool proof.

Paul Fujita showed me this method while I was up in Portland for VK1 and he has a great step by step tutorial on how to do this with paper here:

www.calsk8.com/zeitgeist/acrylicgeltransfers.htm

I found a slightly different way of doing this when I screwed up a large multi-panel attempt. I figured the carbon would transfer just as easy from an overhead laser copy as it would paper which would give you more control and remove a lot of the mess.

Step 1

Here's what you need to start



1 piece of wood (this is painted with matt spray paint and let dry for 24 hours - it's also sanded to make it a little rough)

1 Heavy book

1 container of Acrylic Gel Varnish - you can use high gloss, satin or matt and the results will be the same. You can purchase this at any art store for under $10

1 laser transparency containing a mirrored image of your artwork - you can make these at work and yes it will work with color laser transparencies also

Something to cover the table in case you make a mess

Step 2



Put a small amount of the gel on the board

Step 3



Cover the board with the gel - I like to use my fingers so I can feel in-touch with the work - that's a complete lie, I just wanted to sound like an a$$hole artist for a moment, as I use my fingers to feel any lumps in gel and remove them.

Step 4


You can have a thick and uneven covering as we'll mash it all around next. Just be sure that all of the surface is covered.

Step 5


Position you're image on the gel with the glossy side up - this is why you need a horizontal flip of your image you want to transfer. You can see the gel clearly under the transparency.

Step 6


You can buy yourself a fancy burin to flatten everything or just use the bottom of the gel bottle.

Step 7


You should have squished almost everything out to the sides and no longer have the gel visible as it is in step 5.

Step 8


Place a heavy book on top of it and leave it for a day or 2.

Step 9


So you just couldn't wait a day or two until everything dried and had to take a peak at it. You can see the black areas that have worked on the wood and the areas that didn't stick and are still stuck to the transfer and you're piece is looking terrible.

Step 10


With the transparency you can easily stop when you see that it's not working correctly and keep the registration fine. So just add a little more gel, cover and squish again.



Step 11



It's now fully dry and you can pull the transparency off slowly. Once done you will end up with the above. This process isn't going to give you perfect results, that's the point, so you may want to go over some area's with a black marker or some black paint. AFter that simply cover the entire thing with another coat of the gel as this will blend everything together and give you a nice finish.

Step 12



After a few touch ups the piece is done and my homage to the unknown corporate hero is complete and yes the green one glows in the dark.

The total cost to make each of these, if you have no supplies on hand, is about $20 and a few hours of time. If you already have these basic supplies your cost is less than a $1.

Have fun and post some of your results if you decide to give it a go.

Ripper

Here's a very easy technique that is super cheap, safe with no crazy fumes and almost fool proof.

Paul Fujita showed me this method while I was up in Portland for VK1 and he has a great step by step tutorial on how to do this with paper here:

www.calsk8.com/zeitgeist/acrylicgeltransfers.htm

I found a slightly different way of doing this when I screwed up a large multi-panel attempt. I figured the carbon would transfer just as easy from an overhead laser copy as it would paper which would give you more control and remove a lot of the mess.

Step 1

Here's what you need to start



1 piece of wood (this is painted with matt spray paint and let dry for 24 hours - it's also sanded to make it a little rough)

1 Heavy book

1 container of Acrylic Gel Varnish - you can use high gloss, satin or matt and the results will be the same. You can purchase this at any art store for under $10

1 laser transparency containing a mirrored image of your artwork - you can make these at work and yes it will work with color laser transparencies also

Something to cover the table in case you make a mess

Step 2



Put a small amount of the gel on the board

Step 3



Cover the board with the gel - I like to use my fingers so I can feel in-touch with the work - that's a complete lie, I just wanted to sound like an a$$hole artist for a moment, as I use my fingers to feel any lumps in gel and remove them.

Step 4


You can have a thick and uneven covering as we'll mash it all around next. Just be sure that all of the surface is covered.

Step 5


Position you're image on the gel with the glossy side up - this is why you need a horizontal flip of your image you want to transfer. You can see the gel clearly under the transparency.

Step 6


You can buy yourself a fancy burin to flatten everything or just use the bottom of the gel bottle.

Step 7


You should have squished almost everything out to the sides and no longer have the gel visible as it is in step 5.

Step 8


Place a heavy book on top of it and leave it for a day or 2.

Step 9


So you just couldn't wait a day or two until everything dried and had to take a peak at it. You can see the black areas that have worked on the wood and the areas that didn't stick and are still stuck to the transfer and you're piece is looking terrible.

Step 10


With the transparency you can easily stop when you see that it's not working correctly and keep the registration fine. So just add a little more gel, cover and squish again.



Step 11



It's now fully dry and you can pull the transparency off slowly. Once done you will end up with the above. This process isn't going to give you perfect results, that's the point, so you may want to go over some area's with a black marker or some black paint. AFter that simply cover the entire thing with another coat of the gel as this will blend everything together and give you a nice finish.

Step 12



After a few touch ups the piece is done and my homage to the unknown corporate hero is complete and yes the green one glows in the dark.

The total cost to make each of these, if you have no supplies on hand, is about $20 and a few hours of time. If you already have these basic supplies your cost is less than a $1.

Have fun and post some of your results if you decide to give it a go.

Ripper