Colleen Barry NYC Artist
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Making an Oil Transfer
🕑 Added 2025-09-08 13:00:26 +0000 UTCThe Oil Transfer: Artists have long used transfer methods to move drawings onto their working surface, whether in fresco, where cartoons were pounced or pressed, or on canvas, where variations of tracing and rubbing were common. Every painter has their own approach. In this case, I’m using an oil transfer: I take my cartoon or photograph, coat the back with a thin layer of oil paint (here, ivory black), then place it against the panel and retrace my contours with a stylus or pen. This pressure pushes the painted lines onto the surface, leaving me with a clean guide to begin painting.
Materials: Gamblin Ivory Black, 3 inch Bristle Brush, Odorless Mineral Spirits, Gamblin Galkyd Gel (optional drying agent) wood or grey glass palette, Palette knife, Transfer paper, Wood panel or Canvas.
Comments
Marie-Michèle Robitaille
Thank you for this! I was wondering if the faded mid-section is simply due to the two layers of paper overlapping there in your cartoon (printed on two sheets of paper taped together)?
Juan Garduno
Thank you for sharing this. I've played with the process but I kept getting it wrong - the 15 minute wait period makes ALL the difference - Thank you, Thank you!
