Photo Transfer to Ceramic Tile

What you need:
• Laser photocopy (black & white or color)
• Gel medium or Mod Podge
• Glass & Tile primer
• White ceramic tile
• A water spray bottle
• UV-resistant clear finish

1) Begin by brushing a good amount of glass & tile primer on your
tile surface to increase transfer adhesion and let it completely dry.
2) Choose a mirror photocopy of the photo to transfer. Images with
a plenty of light areas where the mirror or tile will show through,
work best.
3) Cover the photocopy with a thin layer of mod podge or Gel Medium and place the photocopy face down onto the mirror or tile.
Make sure to gently smooth out any air bubbles between the image and the surface.
4) Let the transfer take place and dry for no less than 24 hours.
5) Spray the back of the photocopy with water and begin to gently rub off and remove the paper to reveal the actual transfer. Repeat this step as many times as needed until all the access paper is completely gone.
6) Protect your artwork with a clear protective finish.

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Distressed image transfer

If, like me, you are a fan of the altered and distressed appearance of photos you might
want to give this one a try. You can choose any surface for this transfer but I prefer wood
surfaces such as artist wood panel or any type of wooden blocks.
1) Thoroughly cover the surface you are transferring to with acrylic black paint
and let it completely dry.
2) Use white acrylic paint to cover over the black paint, but let the black paint to
show through in some areas.
3) Use a big nail or a screw or any other tool to scratch and distress the surface.
4) Using gel medium adhere a few pieces of old newspaper or old dictionary and lightly cover
them with white paint.
5) Now that your surface is ready you can transfer a photocopy of your image into the surface using gel medium or Mod Podge. Images with a lot of white space or big sky area work best with this method. (if you are not sure how to do a photo transfer check out the “Image transfer” category or tag)
6) Don’t forget to protect your art work with a clear protective finish.

Photo transfer to a mirror

Recently when the idea to try transferring images to a mirror hit me, I was quite surprised I didn’t come up with this wonderful idea long before.

When choosing an image to transfer it is best to choose a photo with plenty of white space so the mirror shows through.
Before beginning the transfer it is a good idea to prime the mirror with a glass & tile primer since it will increase transfer adhesion.
Next, cover a photocopy of your image (inkjet printout won’t work so well for this type of transfer) with a thin layer of mod podge or Gel Medium and place the photocopy face down onto the mirror. Make sure to smooth out any air bubbles between the transfer and the mirror.
Let the transfer take place and dry over night.
Spray the back of the photocopy with water and begin to gently rub off and remove the paper to reveal the actual transfer.
Repeat this step as many times as needed until all the access paper is completely gone.
And finally, make sure to protect your artwork with a clear protective finish.

By the way, just so you know, the scan of the mirror transfer here does not do justice to the actual piece. So don’t let it discourage you from trying this style of transfer

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Hand painted photo transfer

One of my favorite surfaces for image transfer is canvas.  Recently I discovered something called Real Canvas Pad which is a pad containing 10 9X12 sheets of real canvas primed with Gesso.
An affordable alternative to stretched canvas.
I actually prefer the unprimed side which is rough and looks a lot like raw canvas.

To create this painted photo I chose a black & white Xerox photocopy of a picture taken in Downtown Los Angeles and transferred it using Mod Podge onto the canvas.
After the transfer was done I simply painted the transfer using acrylic paints.

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Paint transfer

Though I always look for new ways to transfer images I was quite surprised when one mixed media book mentioned paint transfer. So of course I had to give it a try first chance I’ve got. And obviously I was delightfully surprised to find out that using paint for image transfer actually works.
1) The very first step is to choose the right image to transfer. I chose a mirrored Xerox copy of a black and white picture I took in NYC near Madison Square Garden. The reason I chose this image is because it has good details but also a bunch of light areas where the paint will be visible.
2) I covered the image with standard yellow and orange acrylic paints and placed it face down and pressed it onto a 5”X7” canvas panel.
3) After a few hours when the transfer was dry, I sprayed water on the back and began peeling and rubbing off the excess paper to reveal the image.
4) The final step, as always is to protect the image with clear UV protection.