Words cannot explain my love for Omni-Gel. There are so many great uses for it -- image transfers, glue, creating textures, and more.Today, I'll show you how to do an image transfer using Omni-Gel. You can transfer images onto paper, fabric, leather, wood, metal, or glass. Squeee, so many things to play with!
Materials:
- Omni-Gel
- Paint brush or foam brush
- Lint-free towel
- Bowl of water
- Patience
The first thing you'll need to do is find an image you like. You can select images from magazines, books. photographs, or print them yourself on a laser printer (ink jet prints do not work). As always, be sure you are not violating any copyrights when you select an image. If you are using a photograph, make a photocopy and use that for the image transfer.
2. Brush on the first coat of Omni-Gel.
Put scrap paper down to protect your work surface. Place your image (image-side up) on top of the scrap paper. Brush the Omni-Gel onto your image using horizontal strokes. The gel will be slightly milky or white in appearance, but will dry clear. This is where your patience comes in; you need to wait for it to dry completely. You'll know it's dry when the gel is completely translucent.
Tip: You can use different types of brushes to achieve different texture effects. A paint brush will leave brush strokes in the gel. A foam brush will leave a smoother surface. Play around with different brushes to get different looks.
3. Brush on the second coat of Omni-Gel.
Brush the gel onto your image using vertical strokes and wait for it to dry.
4. Brush on the third coat of Omni-Gel.
Brush the gel onto your image using diagonal strokes and wait for it to dry. This final coat may take up to 12 hours to dry, depending on the size of your image and the thickness of the gel coats. If you want to play it safe, let the image sit overnight.
Tip: You can keep adding coats to create a thicker image. This is a great way to create different textures and thicknesses for mixed media pieces.
5. Soak the image in water.
Trim any excess paper from your image, leaving a 1/4" (6.35mm) border. Place the image (image-side up) in a bowl of water and let it soak for 10-20 minutes.
6. Remove the paper.
Place your image (image-side down) on a smooth surface, such as plastic or vinyl. Gently rub away the paper from the back of the image. If you have trouble removing the paper, put it back in the bowl of water for a few minutes. Use the towel to clean off any excess paper bits and dry the image.
7. Attach image to new surface.
You should now have your image on a piece of clear, dried Omni-Gel. One side will be matte and the other glossy. Pick which side you want to use, then use Omni-Gel as a glue to adhere the image to a new surface.
14 comments:
I noticed that you viewed my profile on Blog Catalog - thanks for stopping by; I love your work and look forward to studying this tutorial.
So, you live in Germany?? What part of the US are you from?
Visit soon,
patti
http://pattiedmon.blogspot.com
Sorry for the late reply...I'm just seeing this. ;)
I'm originally from DC and now live in Western Germany. It's definitely an adventure.
I've added your blog to my reader. Your work is really lovely.
Wow! That looks like so much fun! Definitely adding it to my projects to try list.
Gotcha for the MIFS carnival tomorrow. Would love a link! Thanks!
Another great tutorial! :) I actually have some Omni Gel, but haven't used it yet-- perhaps now I will have the courage! :)
PS: I have a cousin over in Germany now study anthropology or archeology or something :)
You can do the same thing using PVA Glue. Most of my degree photography work used this kind of technique and it works great especially for text, but you have to remember to photocopy or print it in reverse.
With PVA glue you liberally coat your image with the glue and then stick it to the surface you want your image on, smotth all the bubble out of it and press firmly down. Wait a full day for it to dry out and then start rubbing away the paper.
I might try and see if I can layer the glue on the image in the way you do in this tutorial and see if I get the same results but with the fleixibility of being able to decide how to stick my image to my object as with my method it's a bit random.
Oh, my gosh! We used to do this in high school art class and I've been searching for the medium we used ever since, my search has ended! Thanks for this!
Cool! I've done a similar thing with Golden Gel Medium - the heavier body gel seems to work better. Is Omni-Gel like that? Hmmm . . . must look it up!
Jennifer, I'm glad the mystery is solved!
Bridget, I've never used Golden Gel, so I can't really compare the two. Omni Gel gives you a glossy and matte side every time you use it, while it looks like Golden Gel has different sheens of gel available to get those effects. I'll have to buy some and try it for myself.
Thanks again everyone for your comments.
I've been wanting to try Omni Gel, but haven't gotten around to it. Thanks so much for the information.
can the gel be air brushed on?
Anonymous,
I've never done airbrushing, but my initial thought is that it wouldn't work well. Omni Gel is very thick and it's my understanding that airbrush paint is usually very liquid and water-like. You could try thinning down the gel with water (it is water based), but my guess is that this would seriously affect the results. If you try it, let us know how it turned out!
Hi,
I am from Central Europe. I have been looking for websites where I could buy Omni-Gel with International Shipping.Do you know any web-shop that offers shipping to Europe?
E.F.
I purchased my Omni Gel at my local Michaels Arts & Crafts store. Don't know if you have a Michaels in your area, but I would try any of the big arts & crafts stores.
Hi,
I came accross with your blog while trying to find some info about omni-gel....I will definitely try it according to your information...I am a craft and decorative painting teacher and an owner of the biggest workshop in Turkey...If you want to see my objects and techniques, come and visit me soon...It will be a great pleasure for me.... Bye...
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