Image Transfer on Encaustic

Before

After

10 years or so ago, just after I started doing encaustic artwork, I created this collage to commemorate my time as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Most missionaries get a plaque to show where and when they served. I wasn’t able to get one, so I decided to create my own. I gathered materials I wanted to use- an old letter I had written, a picture of myself the first day out, the old map of the area, and a few other things. Then I created this basic collage.

It seemed fine at the time, but looking back 10 years later, this collage is super boring and not very well made. So, I decided to rework it and use an image transfer on encaustic technique to include the original letters without keeping the large, unwieldy pieces of paper.

To rework this collage, I wanted to keep the text from the letters, but I didn’t want to try and add such large pieces of paper again. So, I decided to try a new technique- image transfer.

To do this technique, you need to print from an ink jet printer. Because I’m using text, it was really important to flip the image and print it so it looked backwards on the paper. That way, when I transferred the image it would show correctly on the surface of the painting.

To transfer an image onto the surface of the wax, you need to wait for the wax to be completely cool and then burnish it for a loooooong time until it sticks to the surface. This is the hard part for me- burnishing like this is hard on my hands. I had to take a lot of breaks. But it’s better to over burnish than to under burnish, so go to town!

Once the paper is totally stuck and it’s noticeably transferred when you peel a corner back, wet the surface of the paper and start rubbing it away with your fingers. This part can take a while too, because there’s a lot of paper that needs to be removed. I was pretty nervous because I was so sure I was going to rub all of the image away. That didn’t happen, though! The technique worked wonderfully.

I wanted to add some color and interest to this piece as well, so I used oil pastels to draw some water, sunlight, and of course a mountain to commemorate Washington state and its’ beauty.

I was originally going to add the map of the area I served in back into the piece, but the original was too damaged and the photocopy was too terrible. So I used carbon paper to trace it on the surface, carved out the outline with an awl, then filled the carved lines with oil paint. This was absolutely the right call. The black outline of the map still draws the eye but doesn’t block any of the color or text. I added circles to all the cities where I served, filled them with red oil paint, and then stamped the names on the surface as a final touch to the piece.

The end result is much better than my original collage, and will last much longer, as well, since it doesn’t include any really large sheets of paper that are tough to collage with. It was fun, too, to try some new techniques.

Here’s a breakdown of the image transfer technique-

Print the image backward with an ink jet printer
Make sure the wax surface is completely cool
Burnish the image onto the wax with a flat surface. This step can take awhile- peel a corner of the image to check the progress of the transfer. It’s better to over-burnish
Wet the paper and rub it away with your fingers
Once the paper is gone, the image will be the only thing left. Be careful adding additional layers of wax. Fusing too much or brushing too hard can affect the image.

Thanks for reading! I’d love to see your results if you try doing an image transfer on any of your encaustic pieces!