Alchemy!

Alchemy: (al' ke-me)  An seemingly magical power or process of transmuting.

"faux encaustic" with Citra-Solv transfer

flexible transparent skin with injet print

transparent skin with inkjet print

Titanium White acrylic skin with digital art (inkjet)

digital artwork on transparent skin

Yesterday I poured a number of "acrylic skins" to play with. For those not familiar with the term "skins" let me share this exciting technique.  You will need four things:  tape, palette paper or a thick sheet of plastic, acrylic paint (I use Golden for a number of reasons that I will talk about in a future post) and a scraper (like a credit card) or a foam brush works well also. I usually run tape around the edges of the palette paper or plastic so that I can control the flow and thickness of my pour. The acrylic paint is then poured unto the surface and smoothed to the edges of the tape.  Allow 24 hours for the paint to set up and it can then be easily removed from the substrate.  The skins can be used in a variety of ways. A few ideas:   They can be put through your printer by attaching them to a carrier sheet, layered into your paintings to create depth - adding an element of mystery to your work, used as elements in your collages and because they are flexible they can be wrapped around objects and elements in constructions.  I poured a sheet of "faux" encaustic" skin and transferred an image onto it using Citra-Solv solution and a black and white photocopy to demonstrate how easily it will take a transfer.  Citra-Solv is a concentrated cleaner and degreaser.  It can be found in most health food stores. Here is the recipe for mixing acrylic medium to create "faux encaustic":  Golden Fluid Matte Medium and a few drops of Golden Iridescent Bright Gold (Fine)...and Voila! you have a wonderful encaustic looking surface.  This can also be applied directly to your work.  *note:  Fluid Matte Medium is not the same as matte medium.  Golden makes a product that is labeled Fluid Matte Medium.  The product number is #3520-6.  It may need to be ordered through them.  Here are a few examples of my experiemnts using skins. Today I'm using the skins in my vacu-form machine....more on that later.

graffitti photo printed on Titanium white

graffitti photo printed on transparent acrylic skin