1. Begin with either a black & white or color photocopy, on plain paper. (Laser prints will also work. Ink jet prints, however, will not work, you will loose about 80% of the color intensity, resulting in a very faint image.)
2. Staple the photocopy, print surface up, to a flat surface. This prevents the paper from wrinkling from the expanding and shrinking process the paper goes through while wet and drying. Just put one staple in each corner, about 1/4 inch from the edge.
3. Paint 2 or 3 layers of acrylic medium onto the print surface of the photocopy (you may also use gesso to transfer, and it works perfectly fine, but you receive a fainter image, and the darks are not as dark as they are with the acrylic medium transfer. And you can use colored acrylic paint.). Allow each layer to completely dry before applying the next. Speed up the drying process by using a fan.
4. Now, you are about to attach your image to your transfer surface. I recommend using either wood or canvas your first several attempts. This process can be done on paper, but it's delicate. If canvas, either attach the canvas to a wall or table(unstretched) or build a plywood surface the size of your actual stretcher. You need a resistant surface once you remove the paper after the next few steps. If you use paper, I recommend painting a layer of gesso to the back of the paper. This will reduce the problem of the paper absorbing the water during the paper removal, making the paper more vulnerable to tearing.
5. Once the layers are dry, apply a thin layer of water with a spray bottle or a brush. You don't want the image soaked, just damp. This step allows the paper to expand. Let is stay damp for 2 or 3 minutes. Apply a layer of the acrylic medium to the surface you are transferring to and then place your image, face down (face down is with image that you have painted down onto the surface, into the wet paint, with the unpainted side of the paper facing up).
6. Place the center of the image down first and work the air bubbles out, from the center of the image to the edge. Only work the air bubble out in one direction, either horizontally or vertically across the surface of the paper (in other words, work the bubbles out either from center to top and center to bottom, or center to left side and center to right side.)Be gentle, you can either tear or distort the paper pushing the air bubbles out, especially if the paper is wet or if there is humidity. You can use your hands, but I often use a screen-print squeegee, it gives the most uniform results. You can also remove air bubbles by taking an x-acto knife, cutting a small 1/8 or 1/16 inch slit in the middle of the air bubble, and pushing the air out the small hole. If you are transferring to paper, attach the paper to a wall once the air bubbles are removed. This keeps the paper from wrinkling during the drying process.
7. Let the paint completely dry. The transfer will dry fastest in hot, dry environments and slowest in cold or humid environments. You will be able to feel moisture on the back of the photocopy paper, as well as feel the softness of the drying paint when the transfer is still wet. 12 - 24 hours is a safe dry time. Be sure to use a fan while drying the transfer. This keeps the paper from wrinkling during the drying (the wrinkled paper is a great effect, so you may also want to take advantage of it.... if this is the case, do not wet the paper before you transfer, the wrinkles are caused by the paper expanding when wet, as well as moisture sitting on the surface of the paper while drying).
8. Once the transfer is dry, take a spray water bottle and wet the paper. Take any type of stiff-bristle brush. I use a plastic brush made by a company Quickie, which they sell at any grocery store. It is about 4 inches long, has a handle, and 2-3 inch plastic bristles.
9. Scrub the wet paper. This is why you need a resistant surface. You simply can't do this on a stretched canvas, unless it has a lot of paint. You begin by scrubbing as hard as you can and, as you remove the layers, begin scrubbing more delicately. I typically scrub a layer, wipe off the excess with my hand, spray paper, scrub again, wipe off, spray paper, take an old t-shirt and get the small particles left behind. Then I will just barely wet the paper and use my fingers to get any tiny bits of paper left behind. You want to remove all of the paper. On a small 10 x 10 inch transfer on canvas, it typically takes about 10 minutes to remove all of the paper.
10. You should now have a complete transfer of your original image to the new surface. The acrylic medium you used for the transfer creates a stronger bond than that of the binder that holds the pigment to the original piece of paper.
Sometimes, during the scrubbing process, areas of the photocopy will rub off. This can be caused by a few things. First, large air bubbles can dry under the surface of the photocopy, not allowing the acrylic medium or gesso to dry to the transfer surface. You can save these areas from rubbing off by being very delicate. The initial layers of acrylic medium act to prevent this. Try a few transfers without the initial layers and you will understand. Second, you can scrub the pigment off by scrubbing too hard. You will learn quickly how much pressure is necessary. Third, problems occur on textured surfaces, where a certain area of the transfer is more worn in the paper removal process. Forth, the medium simply might not be dry enough. Fifth, heat may be the problem. The flexibility of dry acrylic paint is much higher in warm environments than cool. I notice more pigment comes off in the transfers when it is above 80 degrees in my studio. These transfers work best in dry environments in the 60s or 70s. And when I say "best", I mean the most accurate transfer of the photocopy. The imperfections of the process are often the most important aspects of this processes character.
Once you do a few transfers, you will be able to identify the problem areas. Almost always, it is a matter of being very careful while removing the paper and knowing how to recognize the delicate areas.
PHOTOS OF A PAPER TRANSFER
The mirror image of my transfer image stapled to the wall. It is a regular color photocopy on 11 x 17 paper. The paper I am transferring to is Strathmore paper, 80 lb I believe. I also regularly transfer to Moleskine paper, taken out of the notebooks. A somewhat heavy paper is necessary, around the weight of card stock. Both pieces of paper have 2 layers of acrylic medium.
A smooth surface to attach the two pieces of paper. A layer of acrylic medium is painted onto the Strathmore paper and the photocopy is attached face down. Then the air bubbles are removed with the squeegee. Once this is finished, reattach the image to the wall.
This is the image after it has dried for 24 hours. And it has been sprayed with the water bottle, about to be scrubbed with the brush.
Scrubbing with the brush, to get rid of the thick paper. It is a plastic bristle brush, 2 inch bristles. This is your hardest scrubbing. You will be removing big pieces of paper. Keep your brush wet, either by spraying the paper or by dipping the brush into a bucket of water.
This is the more delicate aspect of the transfer, removing the smaller pieces of paper. I use old cotton t-shirts, as well as a 2 inch wide bristle brush with very small (1/4 inch) cut off bristles.
Use the t-shirt to dry the paper (you don't want it completely dry, wipe up all the standing water) and remove the very fine pieces of paper with your fingers. You can see the paper, but most importantly, you can feel it with your fingers. The removal process for a transfer this size on paper takes about 20 minutes. On canvas, around 10-15 minutes.