Image Transfer - more musings and more results.

Well, after finally having the time to get stuck in to some Polymer Clay after the new year, I spent a fairly intense day refining my image transfer technique and my faux ancient, fake ageing surface treatment. It seems quite perverse to make a clean, clear image transfer and then trash it with alcohol ink and sandpaper, but the end result is worth it, in my view. The clean originals are just too. . . clean somehow. Also I like the contradiction inherent in making a computer generated image appear to be something dug up from an archaeological site.
From the reaction I have got from various sources, some from artist's who's work I admire very much, it seems I am doing the right thing ;-)

So, I confirmed to myself that a mix of 15-20% trans clay to 80-85% whatever basic clay you are using to transfer the image onto, is best. The image sticks to the clay appreciably better than it does to plain clay and looks a bit clearer.

I'm still not 100% convinced about dye sublimation inks and paper working as well as the lazer print and water technique. But it has it's own look, and it seems to absorb the image into the clay a little bit. Which makes distressing the surface a bit harder, you need to really go at it. . ;-)
I need to experiment with baking times and with transferring onto pre baked clay.

So here are a few of the beads I made.
What do you reckon?
Jon x

Aged dye sub hollow 2cm square beads

seriously distressed, hollow, 4cm round disk beads

dye sub - yellow acrylic ink version