Among all the printing or ceramic transfer techniques, there is a very simple process that I would like to illustrate by example. It just need black and white laser printing and plain paper.
I called it "laserprint-stencil" because its operating principle is reminiscent of the stencil (which those under 40 cannot know) ... in short, it's using a laser copy like a stencil, which , in its French meaning, is not exactly a stencil ...
what is a stencil (in French ...)?
STENCIL, subst. masc. Waxed paper which, perforated with a typewriter (or by hand with a pen), is used for the reproduction of texts or drawings by means of a duplicator or what was called a ‘roneo machine’ ...
I was still very small, but this ancestor of the photocopier (which we called a polycopy or Roneo) was rampant in schools and administrations, with its characteristic smell of a mixture of ink, paper and alcohol. Basically the process consists in making a wax printing matrix (therefore waterproof), on which the text or the pattern was printed upside down by perforating the matrix (with a pen or typewriter without ribbon). The ink then passed through these perforations made permeable and transferred by pressure onto the sheets soaked in alcohol (the latter diluting just the ink required). By this second mirror effect, the original was reproduced, in a blue-violet ink typical of the time ...
Our Laserprint-stencil process works a bit the same:
If you look closely at a laser print, with grazing light, you can see that the black parts are satin and smooth. This is because (all) laser printers have a particularity that interests us here: their toner is thermally plasticized during printing (heated to 180 °), which makes the black surfaces waterproof: this is the first common point with the wax paper of the roneo stencils which will repel the ink. Conversely, the parts left white on the paper are porous and absorbent. They can therefore "drink" ink or paint to transfer it. On our clay, precisely.
The second point of resemblance to the stencil concerns the "mirror" print. As we will be using laser printing as a stamp, we need to prepare our image in a specific way:
Here it is a motif of William Morris, British artist of the Arts and Crafts movement, which frames the title of one of his poems dating from 1872: "love is enough".
The image must be in Black and White: if it is not original, process it (Word allows this very well, if you don't have Photoshop). Change its color, increase its sharpness and contrast. See my example: the image at the start (in shades of blue) is transformed into Black and White and improved.
Then this image will be flipped horizontally (mirror) so that the text ends up in the right place after the transfer.
Finally, as we want to color the patterns and not the backgrounds, we must INVERT the blacks and whites. What is black remains waterproof and repels color, what is white will absorb color.
PROCEDURE:
When your image is ready, print two or three sheets in a row to heat up the printer, and choose the last one. Cut the image to the correct size.
Prepare your clay plate. For the exercise, I used white earthenware (F741 at Céradel). I thought my pattern would look nicer on a light background, but you can test anything you want. Another reason, depending on the colors you want to obtain, they will remain more vivid at low temperatures ...
Do not cut your clay plate into the final shape yet. You will do this when it is just in the leather state, you can cut it without deforming it. (the pose of the image can also distort it if you press too much)
Prepare your colors: the paper has its limits, on a small surface, no need to make a thick slip. In a thin layer, we will obtain a watercolor effect, or even gouache. It is the fineness of the pattern that will condition the thickness of the color. I used the AMACO ready-to-paint color pots (SMUGS), which look like watercolor, dilute with water and mix with each other and above all, which 'hold' after the biscuit baking. (Some colors from other brands come out "powdered" from baking, cannot be touched, and are difficult to glaze.)
Painting is facilitated by the fact that the black is plasticized and naturally "repels" the paint. it is necessary to "fill" and saturate the white spaces (here there is also a plain border). I only used one color for the leaves, but you can paint with any number of colors you want. I just punctuated the drawing with red berries.
Once the color is laid and mat (but not too dry or thick, because otherwise it may flake and fall off the sheet), it's time to apply our sheet to the clay. Two recommendations:
the plate must still be wet because this humidity helps transfer by absorbing the color. If it is too dry, spray with water and let it soak for a few moments (an atomizer will give finer and more regular droplets). Please note that no droplets should remain on the surface.
The transfer should be applied all at once, without repositioning, so place it correctly the first time. Once applied, without using too much force, with the fingertips, gently "massage" it to maximize color transfer. Do not deform the clay plate, this will also deform your transfer; a soft, flat rubber rib is better than the back of a spoon, which can leave dips and bumps if your clay is still pliable. A damp sponge applied to the back of the paper can help to moisten, but do not soak the paper, it will tear. Remember that you just have to "promote" the exchange between the surfaces, the deposit of your paint on the absorbent surface .
By one of the corners, lift gently and slowly; It is always possible to recoat the paper to reapply, if you see a poorly transferred detail).
With a thin brush, you can also do small touch-ups with the paint. (Here I notably retouched the borders to make them more uniform. Stop doing it when the plate dries, because you will no longer have a homogeneous image, the dry color fades and dulls.
Now you can cut out your shape, and let it dry thoroughly flat so that it does not warp.
(You can see in this picture the pencil lines before the exact cutout of the rectangle, which is the lid of a box.)
After the first bisque firing, the plate is glazed (soaked flat by touching the glaze poured into a plate up to the height of the slice, this way of glazing does not disturb
the pattern) and refired.
I like in this technique its simplicity, its level of precision, the ease of repetition - if you want to do small series. You can transfer multiple colors at the same time very easily. The "watercolor" or "stamp" finish is very pretty and suits the chosen model well.
The technical limit lies in its indication, it is the need to transfer to raw and damp earth, not necessarily flat, but with care not to deform the support.
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