Inkjet Transfer Samples From Recent Workshop

As I think was perfectly clear to the fifteen participants in my recent photo transfer workshop at OCAC, inkjet transfers are far more persnickety than acrylic transfers. The inks have a tendency to bleed into one another and/or slurry about under pressure during the transfer process, and then there's the whole issue of trying to seal them so that future introductions of water (i.e. if you take it in the rain or are suddenly seized with the desire to paint on top of the image) don't reactivate the inks and cause them to move around again. Nevertheless, I sincerely believe that this is a great process for those artists who find inspiration and direction in the random mark-making and peculiar color shifts that can occur when a process is not perfectly predictable. I certainly work that way, and relish in discovering a visual possibility that I could not have preconceived.

Pictured above are two lovely inkjet transfers of the same image. The one on the left resulted from too much water on the paper surface which was then rolled too hard with a small rubber brayer. Personally, I love the irregular edges and dampened (pun intended) color palette. The image on the right is cleaner, but either the paper was too dry in the lower areas or the transfer was not applied fast enough from the carrier sheet to the paper, and the blacks had an opportunity to coalesce which left a blotchy appearance in what should have been the darkest area of the print. If this were my image, I would probably focus my attention on unifying those darkest areas and punching up the blacks of the tree's silhouette. It would be exciting to see how this image ultimately gets finished by the artist. . . it was a lovely photo to begin with, and may need little more than the right frame and a bit of mat board to bring it to completion.