Transferring drawing to canvas

[Matthew Severson]

First of all. If this is in the wrong place, I'm hoping the Moderator will move it to the appropriate area; also, if there is another thread on this subject, could you please delete this one and direct me to it?

And now onto the topic.

This poses as one of my greatest problems when it comes to painting portraits- or any other subject. First I work out the preparatory sketches, then transfer it to canvas using the graphing method. But this does not always work well. I often make small mistakes and have to erase, which makes a mess out of my imprimatura - even when it is dry -

Is there any other method?

Matthew

[Michele Rushworth]

When you're transferring your drawing to canvas you should probably start out drawing the lines in with very light, thinned paint (like burnt umber, which dries fast). That way if you have to make corrections (and everybody does!) you can either wipe out what you've drawn if it's still wet, or paint a darker line in the correct position.

[Steven Sweeney]

Matthew,

You can also make a transfer by using a sheet of clear acetate, a Sharpie pen, and some transfer paper (which is similar to what we know as carbon paper and which comes in a variety of colors). All these are available at your art store.

Place the acetate over your drawing (secure it some way, with tacks or tape, so that it can't move), and with Sharpie, accurately trace the outlines of the subjects or objects. At this point you can place the tracing onto the canvas and adjust it for composition (that is, maybe you crowded the left edge a little in the drawing

[Steven Sweeney]

It should be obvious that the tranfer method I just described works only if the drawing is the same size as the intended painting. Otherwise, you simply have to scale it up or down first, whether using a graphing method, projector (try to avoid), or some other means.

[Richard Budig]

I use the "square up" method a lot.

I will often lay acetate over my source material, tape the acetate overlay in place, and then draw squares over my source material. I then draw the same grid, but lager, over my canvas and lightly sketch in my source. When this is done, I re-draw my subject in raw umber, or some other dark color, on canvas in acrylic paint, which dries very fast. Then, I erase what few lines may remain on my canvas. I do my square up and initial sketch with a 9H pencil, so there is very little to erase.

Of course, you can also lay out and sketch your subject in soft vine charcoal, and when you're satisfied that you have the basics, use a soft cloth to erase as much as possible. Don't worry -- you'll leave a ghost image, over which you can draw in paint.

A raw umber (or other dark color) drawing will easily withstand the first few washes of a lay in, and will slowly disappear as the painting progresses.

If I'm sure I'm going to be painting mostly in a "wishy-washy" way, I will use a much lighter paint in which to draw. Maybe like raw sienna. If I'm going to start painting immediately, I'll do my drawing in raw sienna oil, and then start painting in oil which quickly "absorbs" that small amount of raw sienna.

There must be other good ways of doing this. These are just some of the ways I use.