The technique of image transfer is my recent experiment on sketch/journal book and other artistic creation. I am loving it so much, and despite the messy part of rubbing off all the paper backing, the result is incredibly satisfactory and I just can’t get enough of them. I am very tempted to fill every page of my sketch book with some pretty pictures (which really won’t help on improving my drawing skills anyway), though I know it is a bit crazy.

I love it because it is so fun and easy, only costs minimum to achieve. All you need is a bottle of acrylic medium which I already have on hand, an image from a laser printer and a little bit of patience. Nobody is lack of patience if he/she really has a genuine interest in doing something in his/her life. Am I right?

The photo above shows a black and white pencil sketch work that I found from one book. I copied it on laser printer and then did the transfer. The imperfection due to rubbing off process made the whole drawing very interesting and I actually quite like its aged look.

About 3 weeks ago, I also did a transfer on a piece of stretched and primed canvas with a coloured photo. The result is even better because the adhere to canvas is much durable and operatable than it is to the sketch book paper (FYI, my sketch book is Derwent Safari series 200gsm paper). However, I would not recommend to use this technique if you are very fussy about photo quality or you prefer a crystal clear photograph like my husband. Personally, I really love the idea to use it on canvas, especially it is so expensive to customise your photo printing on canvas nowadays. The difficulty is more around choosing a suitable photo (aged look or imperfect effect) and the size of canvas as I don’t imagine that you can print a photo bigger than A3 if you just use a domestic laser printer, which limits your options.

You can find the detailed process in this great tutorial . It covers everything you need to know. If there is anything I can add, I would suggest to cover the edges of canvas with your transferring image as this will give a depth finish.