Transfering Images using Chartpak Marker

Here are the steps for the last type of transfer that I use in my classes, using a Chartpak marker (colorless blender pen). This type of transfer is quite simple, although it does smell a bit because of the marker (solvent based), and you do have to purchase a marker (only found at art supply stores) to make it work at all.

Supplies you need to gather:

Images to transfer - toner based copies or laser jet prints (inkjet prints WILL NOT work)
scissors, paper to transfer onto, Chartpak colorless blender pen, wooden spoon or bone folder.

Cut out the image you would like to transfer. This type of transfer reverses everything, so if you are using text or if your image needs to be in a certain direction create a mirror image prior to starting this process.
A note on color images - this process will transfer some colored ink, not all colors, not all the time. I recommend black and white images to my students but some have experimented with color images with mixed results.

Place the image face done in the desired location on the new page. Hold the image firmly in place with a finger (you do not want the image to shift during the transfer). Color over the top of the entire image using the marker. The paper will become translucent and you will see the image you are transferring.





After coloring over entire image, use the back of a wooden spoon or the flat of a bone folder to burnish firmly over the entire image. This step is most important and the easiest place for this type of transfer to go wrong.
While you are burnishing be sure the image stays in its original location and does not shift or the image will blur.

Peel up the paper to reveal the transferred image. At this point you can use the image to make an immediate second transfer that will be lighter or ghosted from the original transfer with no additional coloring with the marker, just choose a placement and burnish over the image a second time. At this point the ink on the image will be spent and it can go in the trash.

This type of transfer creates a grainy version of the image on the page, that seems like a photocopy was made directly into your work. You can draw and paint over the image and it will blend into the page. Transfers made with less burnishing will be lighter, transfers that are ghost images from transfers will be lighter still.