Tag: transfer printing

Scarves and other techniques

DINH HAI YEN on

Other than the white Cherry Blossom scarf, I also wanted to make 4 more. My concept was Oriental in general, and I want to represent the 5 elements – water (white), fire (red), plant (green), earth (yellow), metal (black). Also, all the objects found in each scarf are things that are very Oriental and special to specifically Asia – crane, lotus, koi fish, lantern and cherry blossom. For these 5 scarves, I used a variety of techniques to create 2D effects on fabric with minimal usage of 3D effect to maximise the feeling of fabric printing – bleaching, transfer printing, calligraphic painting, thermochromic painting, and velvet etching.

I. White Cherry Blossom scarf – calligraphic painting and resin casting

Details about the making of this scarf can be found here:

Final Project – Cherry Blossom – W.I.P

 

II. Black Koi fish Scarf – Bleaching

For this scarf, I used bleach as my paint because I realised that the effect from my previous bleaching experiment looks really cool and the colour is perfect to replicate koi fish. Thus I diluted the bleach and worked within 1 hour rush because the bleach works very fast and I had to work evenly. I then washed it thoroughly with soap and let it air dry.

 

III. Red Lotus scarf – Velvet etching

I wanted to recreate velvet etching on red velvet because it reminds me of red paper cut – a very Oriental and Asian thing. Thus I tried to paint lotus and leaves. I let it dry overnight then iron it. However, the velvet was polyester, thus it didn’t work and only left burn mark. Though it was not a success, it does create a nice effect that is subtle and elegant.

 

IV. Green Crane scarf – transfer printing

I photoshopped some crane PNG that I found online and printed reversed on TCT3.1. I then followed the instruction for heat press transfer printing on textile. At first it was quite a bit of a failure because the white base was not present, and the transparency was too strong. After some trials and errors and very long trimming, I managed to control the temperature and adjusted it to create nice effect for the cranes,

 

V. Yellow Lantern scarf – Thermochromic painting

While brainstorming on what to do for yellow, I thought that lanterns will go really well with this colour because of the typic “lantern in Mid-Autumn night” feel. I remembered that thermochromic ink can create the invisible effect and is available in red and blue, thus I thought that I could mix some purple for shading and paint them manually to recreate the scene of lantern shining bright then disappearing and fading away. Sadly, while painting the scarf, my phone was low on battery, thus I couldn’t take any photo of the W.I.P. But below are some close up of the details.

Exhibition during End of Semester show:

Transfer printing

DINH HAI YEN on

Transfer printing is a technique that uses ink or paint to print on different surfaces. The main one that we experimented were:

Indirect transfer:

  1. Crayon on paper then apply on satin
  2. Transfer printing paint on paper then apply on satin
  3.   Printing on transfer printing paper then apply on both fabric (soft printing) and wood (hard printing)

Direct transfer:

  1. Printing on the fabric using objects as stencils
  2. Crayon on paper

Transfer print using MagicTouch paper:

  1. Soft medium printing
  2. Hard medium printing

We draw with crayon on paper to create pattern which can be used for indirect printing. We had to use some force and pressure because the application opacity will be slightly less than what can be seen on paper, especially with ironing method because the temperature and pressure is not as high as the press machine.

Fig 1. Crayon on paper and indirect application on satin using heat press

 

While for heat press machine, we followed the details (400 degree F, 35 seconds) and the result was a stunning opacity on satin.

Fig.2: Crayon on paper and indirect application using heat press

 

  1. Transprint paint on paper:

Using transfer printing paint on paper, we create different kinds of patterns and details, using different techniques from stenciling to brushing.

Fig 3. Transprint paint on paper

 

Using on of the piece (fully brushed on paint on paper) and having some small pieces of threads sandwiched in between, the heat press machine is able to produce a high opacity transfer printing with the absence of the thread. However, as the fabric is very ‘cushioned’ (layered satin) and the pressure from the machine was very high, we can actually feel the fabric being imprinted onto the satin due to the force.

Fig. 4: Transprint paint on paper, indirect application on satin using heat press

 

This piece was done using a ‘second-handed’ transprint ink piece. With heat press machine, it still work out well even it is already the second time we use it

Fig. 5: Transprint paint on paper, indirect application on satin using heat press

 

This 2 pieces were done using heat press method, however the right side was $6/m satin while the left was $2/m. The photos could not really tell but there is a difference in the quality of fabric (thickness, shine, texture) and the clarity of the printing.

Fig. 6 & 7: Transprint ink on paper and heat press, left – $6/m satin, right – $2/m satin

Fig. 8: Transprint paint on paper and heat press on satin

 

We also tried on cotton (cotton shirt sold in Art Friend), but apparently cotton did not work out well because of the bleeding and the pores of the cotton that pixelated the printing.

Fig. 9: Transprint paint on paper and heat press on cotton

 

Lastly, I tried to using ironing method to see how much of a difference it might be. I left the iron on for around 2 minutes, the photos are much more saturated than in reality, but there is definitely a difference in opacity compare to the heat press method.

Fig. 10 & 11: Transprint paint on paper and indirect application using iron

Transfer printing using printing paper and heat press machine requires a special type of paper. We used TCT3.1 for fabric and CPM6.2 for hard surface.

  1. TCT3.1 on fabric

Fig. 12: Printing on TCT3.1 and CPM6.2

Fig 13. Preparation before printing

Fig. 14: Trimming and afterward mess

Fig. 15: Positioning and hot peeling

Fig. 16: Discarded pile

 

Fig.17, 18, 19: Final print on teal polyester

The print was not really a success as the print was still transparent even though I had made sure that there was a white base when prepping the file.

 

Fig. 20, 21, 22, 23: TCT3.1 on white satin

Finally when using satin, the print was considered successful because the print was completely transferred from the paper onto the satin.

2. CPM6.2 on wood

Fig. 24, 25: CPM6.2 on balsa wood

The first piece ( on the left) was the first print that I tried. It was kinda warped because of the heat from the machine, thus on the second print (right), I applied more towel paper to reduce the warping, thus the print was much better