Trace/Copy/Transfer

You don’t have to worry about staying after school if you get caught copying because this is a whole different sort of copying! You can use these techniques to enhance your composition.

TECHNIQUE ONE: Trace It

Place white or black graphite sheets under your image and trace it so it transfers onto your artwork. You can use sketches or photos on top of the graphite sheets. When your sketch has been traced, you can paint or use colored pencils to emphasize the lines. The white graphite sheets work well to get a light line drawing over a dark painting. You can always erase and move your sketch to another area prior to painting or coloring. Another option is to use a water-based crayon to sketch in your image. You can then wipe it off with water after painting in your image.

MOMENT IN TIME

Darlene Olivia Mcelroy

TECHNIQUE TWO: Copy It

Repetition and variation are two of the major building blocks of composition. Take an element, shape or image that you wish to add to your art and copy it. You might copy different sizes or make many copies at a smaller scale. You could also try cutting the image up into pieces and adding it in pieces to your artwork.

TECHNIQUE THREE: Transfer It

The difference between gluing down an element and making a transfer is that normally a collaged element is opaque and most transfers allow you to see the underlying background. Which will work best to tell your story and complete your composition?

THROUGH THE VEIL

Darlene Olivia McElroy

Start with a board that has been painted with black gesso. After the black gesso has dried, stamp white gesso on top of the black gesso and allow it to dry. Apply a waterslide decal. The decal image will show only on the white areas and will disappear where applied over the black gesso.