This info came via: http://bettinaforget.com/InsideTheStudio/2010/12/03/transfer-magic-with-melanie-matthews/
Transfer Magic with Melanie Matthews
Published: December 3, 2010Posted in: Reviews of events
What a great way to spend a Sunday: up to my elbows in acrylic gel, a bit of Quinacridone orange stuck in my hair, and learning all about Image Transfer techniques from artist Melanie Matthews. Melanie is employed by Golden Paints and gives a variety of workshops on how to use Golden products. This was my second workshop with her, I had already participated in her basic image transfer session, and I had signed up for her advanced class at theWestmount Visual Arts Centre.
Melanie is an energetic teacher, light-hearted and talented. Check out her website which features her own work besides snapshots taken during her workshops. Another great thing about her workshops: she brings the BIG pots of Golden products. Regular Gloss Gel, Fiber Paste, Glazing Liquids, all doled out in large quantities – I was like a kid in a candy-store! Also, Melanie comes prepared. As you take your seat and tie the straps of your apron around your waist, there are piles of canvas already cut to size, acrylic skins, stacks of paper, brushes, pencils, all laid out for you at your spot. Which means you can get a lot of art done during the six-hour workshop!
Our first task was to coat various painting supports with Digital Ground. This liquid prepares any reasonably flat surface into something you can print on. We coated raw canvas, aluminium foil, and two gel skins. The product stops inkjet inks from smudging and beading on the surface of your support.
Then we prepared our own “skins”. An acrylic skin is basically a thin layer of any acrylic gel which has been allowed to dry. We created a marbled effect by adding a few drops of paint into the gel and then carefully spreading it out on a plastic sheet protector. Once the gel has dried (which takes a few hours) it can be peeled off the plastic sheet. What you then have is a flexible sheet of acrylic which can be easily integrated into your artwork.
As we let our skins and painting grounds dry we started rummaging through a stack of images Melanie had brought in for us to create our collages. I picked a Geisha, some random pieces of text, and the drawing of a bird and created two images.
Now the supports were dry, and we taped them to regular sheets of printing paper, so they would feed easily into the desktop printer. And then came the magic part: Slap your collage on top of the printer, hit “copy”, and see your image printed on a piece of canvas, on a translucent gel skin sprinkled with glass beads, and even on a piece of aluminium foil. Awesome.
It was interesting to see the difference the various supports made on the quality of the image. The aluminium foil created a sharp, nearly pixelated image, whereas the glass bead gel gave my Geisha a diffuse, ethereal quality.
The final step was to integrate the images onto a textured painting support we had prepared earlier. Before sticking the skins down with more acrylic gel we used glazing fluid and paints to tint the skin’s backs. Then we huddled around the fan heaters and blow driers in an effort to get everything dry enough to transport home. I ended up creating four art pieces I’m quite happy with, and a ton of ideas how to integrate this new technique into my own artistic practice. I already bought a new desktop printer for my home studio. Keep watching this space for more artworks!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
1 Comment
Heather Boyd
Yes, Melanie is an amazing teacher! I finally treated myself to her full 10 week Acrylic Techniques class…awesome!