Have you already read my tutorial on Getting Started in Encaustics and Making Your Own Paints? Have you already picked up all your encaustic supplies? Then read on….
Transferring images onto wax is easy! First, prepare your surface with an even layer of encaustic paint or medium. Fuse, fuse and re-fuse until it is nice and flat. (A separate tutorial on creating a smooth encaustic surface is forthcoming…)
Next, grab your photocopy. For the transfer to work, the image must be either a regular photocopy or printed from a laser printer (no inkjet prints). I find that the older the copy machine, the easier it is to transfer the toner to the wax. However, newer copy machines tend to give a better resolution copy, which is good for pictures with intricate detail. If you are lucky, you can find a machine that manages to meet both criteria – not too old, not too new. If your image contains text, don’t forget to reverse the picture with the copy machine otherwise your words will be backwards!
In this example, I only want to transfer part of the picture so I cut out the portion I’m interested in using.
Place the photocopy face down on the wax, preferably while the wax is still slightly warm from fusing.
Firmly burnish the back of the photocopy into the wax with a spoon, taking special care to thoroughly rub all over the bumpy or uneven areas. I find it helpful to cover the photocopy with a layer of wax paper before rubbing it. This prevents me from accidentally ripping apart the cut out with an overzealous swipe of the spoon. It also seems to minimize the severity of my “spoon” marks on the wax. To ensure complete and total burnishing of the entire image, I burnish from left to right, from top to bottom, from corner to corner and vise-versa.
Next, rub the back of the image with a cotton ball filled with acetone. Don’t have acetone on hand? Use a bottle of plain, cheap finger nail polish remover instead. Remember to follow proper safety procedures and work in a well ventilated area (see Venting Your Studio).
Keep soaking the paper until you can start to see the image on the other side.
Continue soaking it with acetone. The paper will start to wrinkle when it has separated from the toner.
At this point, you can start lightly rubbing the paper with your finger and pulling it away from the surface.
Keep rubbing and re-wetting the surface until you can start to see the image. Please note that some artists use water to transfer an image. Although I haven’t tried that method, it seems like you could substitute acetone with water once you’ve reached this step. Since acetone evaporates so quickly, water could help quicken the removal of the paper by keeping it moist longer.
Even when you are being careful, sometimes little holes appear in your image because the toner didn’t completely adhere to the wax, you failed to burnish that particular microscopic spot or you pulled the paper away too quickly. As you practice more encaustic transfers, these holes will happen less frequently. In this case, I’m not overly cautious while removing the paper because I like the look of the holes on this piece.
Don’t worry if you can’t remove every single speck of paper from the wax. These remnants can be “fixed” by lightly fusing the image. The heated wax will absorb the bits of paper, thus making it look almost completely transparent. You can also intentionally (or unintentionally) warp the image on the surface by fusing it too long.
All done! Wasn’t that easy?
Lear Jet Out of Fuel. 8 x 10. Encaustic, oil, image transfer on panel. © 2008 Haley Nagy.
Devin
Dec 22, 2008 -
You know I’m a fan of anything green…also anything witty. That man’s sign is smart and sassy. Great combo! Awesome tutorial!!!
Caterina
Dec 30, 2008 -
Thanks for the great tutorial. I love doing photo transfer on encaustic. I have only done it with water, never acetone. I will try that one day as well. It works very well with water also. Lovely work.. Caterina
Marilyn
Dec 30, 2008 -
Great tutorial, Haley! I’ve tried the water method, but–well, it was totally a more complicated method than what you’ve shown here. Next time, I’m trying it your way!
Sarah
Dec 31, 2008 -
Eagerly awaiting your tutorial on smooth surfaces. No matter how much I fuse, scrape and fuse again, I simply can’t get rid of the brush strokes. I have tried heating the surface with the heat gun before and during the brush stokes. I have also tried heating the entire panel on a hot plate during the strokes. I am going to try pouring one of these days, but I am sure there is a way to acheieve this surface without pouring. THANK YOU for sharing your methods!
Carrie
Jan 1, 2009 -
Nice tutorial! However, I’d add to make sure that you have proper ventilation and/or a respirator when using acetone. Its effects are cumulative, and nasty.
Haley Nagy
Jan 1, 2009 -
Thanks for the reminder Carrie. I’ve updated the post with a link to info on proper studio ventilation. Cheers!
Sari
Jan 11, 2009 -
Hi Haley. Your tutorial was extremely helpful – thank you. One question – do you put a clear layer of medium on top of the ink transfer? I’m not sure what to do since the clear layer on top diminishes the intensity of the image somewhat, but I don’t think I want to leave it bare – the ink can rub off and is not light-fast so will fade over time if not covered.
Haley Nagy
Jan 11, 2009 -
Sari, Thanks for the comment. In answer to your question, after transferring the image onto the surface I lightly fuse it with the heat gun. The wax underneath absorbs the most of the toner. This helps protect the image from rubbing off at the slightest scratch. It also seems to increase the intensity of the black color.
The lightfastness of toner varies. Here’s an informative article on the topic: http://www.vam.ac.uk/res_cons/conservation/journal/issue30/photocopies30/index.html. I try to research the particular brand of toner/copier before using it, but that info can be hard to come by.
If you cover the transfer with a very light layer of clear encaustic medium it shouldn’t obscure the image too much, but I would test it on a sample transfer first to see how you like the results. Make sure the surface has cooled before you add hot wax… otherwise your brush might wipe the image straight off! This additional layer will lock the image in an airtight space… thus removing one of two traditional factors for yellowing materials with acidic content (air and light). This also protects the transfer from moisture. Still, some toners are light sensitive. When I sell an artwork, I always include information about avoiding direct sunlight in the documents on caring for encaustics.
Carrie Goller
Feb 16, 2009 -
Great job Haley! I think acetone works better than water. I usually coat first with acetone then when thoroughly soaked, use water to rub off the paper. There are also methods to transfer using Golden medium and an inkjet print. It makes a “skin” transfer onto the encaustic.
Amy Osborn
Mar 26, 2009 -
I love this! I’m going to try it!! Where do you get your wax? Are some waxes better than the other??
I’m loving your new stuff!!
Haley Nagy
Mar 26, 2009 -
Thanks Amy! Unless you want to jump right in and make your own medium, I recommend R&F Paints (http://www.haleynagy.com/resources/). I’ve also got some great (modest, right?) tutorials for beginners on my website… if you are interested in learning more about how to GET the wax ONTO the panel. he, he. I’d start here: (http://www.haleynagy.com/2008/08/10/encaustic-101-getting-started/). Feel free to ask me questions… I’m so happy you are interested!
Ian
Jul 30, 2009 -
I like doing image transfers, although I have never done them onto wax – I use acrylic medium onto paint or gesso. I prefer the ‘feel’ of the more broken up images too. They make great ATCs although it’s time consuming.
Ruth Maude
Oct 12, 2009 -
Hi Hayley. Nice post. I find that just plain water works perfectly without the chemical stink. I get my encaustic medium from http://www.waxworksencaustics.com and then mix in my own oil paints for colour.
Sofia
Dec 3, 2009 -
Could you do this transfer method with just plain old wax?
Haley Nagy
Dec 14, 2009 -
You probably could, but I would discourage you from using plain old wax in your artwork. The difference between wax and encaustic is the addition of resin, which raises the melting point significantly for encaustics. Wax by itself (without the resin) is much more susceptible to damage – it’s too soft (scratching and nicking become an issue) and temperature sensitive. In fact, it is so soft, you might have a hard time burnishing the photocopy into the wax without damaging the surface. Still, you probably could transfer an image using just plain wax – but please be careful it’s pure beeswax and not any of those industrial waxes with chemicals in them!
Alice Anne
Jan 31, 2010 -
Hello Haley,
Could you recommend a place to purchase handmade Japanese papers for an ink jet printer? Hiromi International is a great place, however, the lightest weight handmade paper did not disappear into the wax layers. Do you also know of any printer who specializes in printing on handmade paper? I am experimenting with fusing one layer over these paper textures. I want to transfer my digital photo images on handmade paper. What additonal encaustic techniques can you employ with water transfers?
Being a former papermaker and paper sculpture lead me toward photoencaustic with handmade Japanese papers. There appears to be 2 methods: 1.) Gluing the paper to the substrate.
2.) Using thin paper like Japanese tissue which disappears into the wax when fusing additional layers.
Thank you for any information!! So appreciated.
Alice Anne
anna
May 14, 2011 -
Hi, thank you for the tutorials. You don’t have to use acetone. You can just use plain water to rub and remove the paper. Healthier way to go.
Leslie
Oct 12, 2011 -
Love your site and your work. My question on image transfers: Can you transfer color laser prints or copies?
Ian
Dec 1, 2011 -
Omg, I’m going crazy with this transfer stuff.
I got shelled out a ton of money on an Hp color laserjet. 1. I can’t find the mirror/reverse option, read online it’s not available. 2. It only works with my macbook via usb cable. The biggest issue is thatI it’s impossible to remove the paper w/o rubbing away the transfers. I even used a very soft ox hair brush under water. After a very long time the paper started to come with the image. The image doesn’t transfer. Te paper becomes translucent. Next I got a copy from an Hp black and white laser jet and my transfer was fast, easy, and perfect. Is the color printer only useful for color transfers?
Dee
Mar 22, 2012 -
Wonderful tutorial. Thank you!
I’m curious if you’ve tried a transfer method I just saw recently (but have not tried just yet)…
Using professional baker’s parchment paper, cut down to copier paper size, make a photocopy (in reverse, of course). Then, using a small heat iron tool, place the toner side down on the encaustic surface and transfer with the heat tool. The parchment paper comes up clean and only the toner area gets transferred. No need for chemicals or water and it’s much quicker.
As soon as I get a little heat iron tool, I’m going to try this method!