Creating A Coloring Book- Part 3: From Sketch to Finished Artwork

I’m working on my next coloring book, and I thought it might be fun to document the process on my blog as I go along.  

In Part 2, I talked about my process of conceptualizing my book and exploring what ideas I wanted to include in it, and designing my world and the characters that inhabit it.  During that phase, I produce a lot of sketches of my ideas and page compositions that come to me.

Here in Part 3, I'll be transforming my sketches into finished artwork.

My method for this is to scan my hand-drawn sketches into my computer and then basically trace over them and add to them by creating vector art in Adobe Illustrator.

  Er...what kind of art...?

https://signalizenj.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/vector-vs-raster/

So -there are two general kinds of 2D digital image - pixel (aka raster or bitmapped) and vector.  Pixel images are made up of tiny squares of color (pixels) on a grid, that create an image.  Vector images are made of...er...math...?  It's difficult to describe.  It's just magic, okay?

Here's a better explanation:

 http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/32597/whats-the-difference-between-pixels-and-vectors/

On a practical level, what it comes down to is that when you want to create or alter a pixel image, you would use a brush tool to lay down colored pixels, and an eraser tool to eliminate pixels.  It's similar to painting with actual paint. 

In a vector image, each line and shape is a separate entity that can be manipulated in a variety of different ways without having to erase and redraw.  You can change an entire shape's color with a single click, as opposed to having to select and paint pixels.  

You can very easily move things around, manipulate lines, adjust and tweak and experiment until you get it perfect.  You can also very easily do things like duplicate shapes and flip them, which is very handy for creating symmetrical images, which I love. 

 A picture is built by creating and layering these individual, fully-editable shapes and lines.

It basically gives me complete control over every aspect of the image, and allows me to experiment and adjust things along the way.  

Hand sketch - Final artwork - Coloring test

Vector images are generally more "graphic" in style - smooth lines and gradients, more precise and "clean" looking, while pixel images tend to be more "painterly" - textured, can have "brush strokes" and mimic photos and traditional art techniques and mediums.  Having said that - there are artists doing photo-realistic and/or painterly work with vectors and very graphic work with pixels - artists tend to do whatever they want with their tools!

But for me, creating an image with vectors is a very enjoyable process that results in very satisfying final images.  And it works very well for coloring book art because you can get lovely smooth lines and shapes for colorists to fill in.

This one started with a VERY rudimentary sketch!

The level of detail that I put into my initial hand-drawn sketches varies a lot.  Sometimes I'll just do a super basic, almost stick-figure-level sketch that does little more than indicate a basic pose or composition.  In those cases, I already have the rest of the details pretty firmly in my mind and feel confident that I can fill out the drawing on the computer without needing much guidance from a detailed sketch.

Other times, I'll spend a lot of time on a sketch - working on poses, filling in little details, refining things and exploring with my pencil at that stage.  Some sketches are a mixture of detailed and rudimentary visual "notes to myself".  Sometimes I'll include actual written notes to myself like "shorten neck", or  "mandala wings" or "Healer making medicine w/ plant's help.  Scientific stuff!  Lots of bottles and jars".  

 I just want to create a foundation upon which to build my vector shapes.

After I scan them in I'll often do a bit of tweaking in Photoshop.  Sometimes something needs to be a bit taller or wider than I originally sketched it, a limb needs to be a little longer or shorter, or maybe I'll adjust the size and angle of the head.  I can do this quickly in Photoshop (which is a pixel-based program, btw.  The sketches are converted into pixel images when I scan them.), by "cutting out" a part of the sketch and rotating it or adjusting the size.  It chops up the drawing and makes it look crappy, but nobody but me is seeing that stage. 

For symmetrical images, I'll usually just sketch out half of the drawing, then in Photoshop I can copy that half and flip it to create the mirror-image half.  Easy peasy!  

Symmetrical image - only sketch half and mirror it  

I open the sketch in Illustrator and put it on a separate Layer that I can turn on or off, make transparent, etc. Layers are kind of like transparent sheets of paper stacked on top of each other that you place your shapes on.  You can make each layer invisible or change it's transparency, lock it to "freeze" it so you can select other things without effecting that layer, move it around in the stack to move things above or below other things.  Layers are wonderful things!

Then I start building up my image on different layers.  For the art in this book, I've generally been organizing my layers into Foreground, Midground and Background.  Using layers helps to keep things organized, makes it easier to navigate all the shapes and can help to create a sense of depth.

Sometimes I stay very faithful to my original sketch, but more often than not, some ideas are tossed, new ideas come up.  Sometimes I try several different options until I find the one that works. 

This phase is the most labor and time-intensive.  It's me spending hours making lots of little things and putting them exactly where I want them until the artwork looks finished to me.   

Once I get everything in place and it looks good, I'll print it out on my laser printer and test-color it.  I've found that this step is really valuable.  It helps me catch any mistakes or weirdness that I might have missed and gives me a feel for how well it colors.  Is there too much open space in this area?  Are these shapes way too tiny to color?  Is the image legible - can you tell what things are?  

Also - I get to color!  :D

As I color, I'll make little notes on the back about any mistakes I've caught or changes I want to make, then go back into the vector image and correct them.

And that's that!  Artwork finished!  And then I do it 24-30 more times with the rest of my sketches!

Next step - Layout! (stay tuned for Part 4!)

Creating a Coloring Book - Part 1: I Am A Sponge!

I’m getting started on my next coloring book, and I thought it might be fun to document the process on my blog as I go along.  

 I have a file folder on my computer with several book concepts that I'm developing.  I jot down whatever ideas come to me, make notes, do some sketches, start thinking about how the idea can be expanded into 30 or so art pages.  Some ideas I can pretty easily envision as supporting a book project – others I have to kick around for a bit before they start coming together for me.  Sometimes they end up scrapped or incorporated into other ideas. 

My first book, Sacred Beauty, was basically a collection of art pieces I had done over the previous few years that I re-worked so they could be colored.  I also did several new mandalas and patterns to fill out the book.  Looking back now, there are couple of images I think I should have spent some more time on, but it was a learning experience, and I think I'm getting better with each book.

At the time, I had just found out about the “Adult Coloring Craze” and I felt a massive sense of urgency to get something out there as soon as possible.  So often, trends such as this hit fast and hard and then fade just as quickly. I’d often found out about trends too late to actually participate in them, which is just as well since they don’t often end up being  long-term opportunities anyway.

 I feel like this trend is different though – I think it has potential to become an established and permanent category of books (as well as an awesome opportunity for artists). So far, that seems to be the case.  And I love it! 

 I truly love the whole concept of coloring books – they are like collaborations between the artist and the colorists.  There are so many ways a picture can be interpreted as far as color choices and different mediums.  I love seeing how the same image can take on a variety of “flavors” depending on each colorist’s unique style.

After putting together the first book, I was hooked.  The self-publishing process has gotten much easier since the last time I looked into it.  I won’t claim that it’s easy to do everything yourself, but most of the skills required are things I’ve learned over the years of being a professional illustrator and artist, and the things I didn’t know how to do, I could learn by doing research on the internet and exploring the various programs now available. 

I am mainly self-taught, and I started when I was a child.  I would look at a cool drawing and really want to draw like that, so I figured out how to analyze and experiment until I was able to mimic the effect I was after.  This was back before the internet, so I was mainly working from comics, animation, books and magazines about movies and art books.

I think “learning how to learn” has been a big part of my journey as a person – both in art and in general.  It’s a pretty darn useful skill!  And now that we have the internet, there is this massive resource for learning how to do things, and most of it is free!  Amazing!

 In any case…

          After publishing my last book (The Lumina Chronicles), I took some time to redesign my website, put some downloadable print packs together and do some marketing and promotion to get the word out.  Since my books haven’t been picked up by brick-n-mortar stores yet (though they are available in the biggest book distributor catalog out there), I’ve got to let folks know my books exist and are available online. 

                I’ve also learned that buying coloring books online can be risky, since it’s often the case that the buyer can’t look inside the book, and are sometimes disappointed with the contents.  I’ve tried to eliminate that risk by making video tours and watermarked images available that show what’s inside my books. 

                In any case – that’s the boring part of being an artist, but it’s essential if I want to actually sell things to people!  I think I’m doing pretty well, for a self-publisher!  My sales have basically doubled in the last 2 months, so I must be doing something right!

So… I knew I wanted to do more books, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do yet. To be honest, I was pretty burned out after finishing The Lumina Chronicles.  It was a pretty intense project, and I think it turned out well and I’m really proud of it, but it was a lot of work!

I decided to take some time off and go into “Sponge Mode”.

I’ve found that I tend to move through a creative/receptive cycle as an artist.  There are times when I am full of ideas and inspired to create and produce, and times when I need to take a break and re-charge my creative batteries. 

                This usually involves watching a lot of movies and documentaries, looking through books or researching stuff on the internet, and sometimes playing video games.  A lot of this is just something passive to do that doesn’t tax my brain too much, but it is also often the source of new ideas that I can tuck into my Inspiration File.  Anything and everything goes into the mix!  I am a Sponge, soaking up what's around me and letting it swirl around in my brain until something new and interesting comes out!

                This time, the video games ended up being more inspiring than time-wasting.  I discovered that there’s a whole genre of YouTube videos of people playing video games – which sounds kind of stupid and boring, but I’ve become quite a fan.  I’m not a particularly skilled player, (and my reflexes and eyesight aren’t getting any better!) but I love video games as an art form.  Watching a skilled player go through the game allows me to appreciate the artwork and design without having to spend the hours (or hundreds of dollars on different game systems) to actually play it.  

from the "Dragon's Lair" arcade game.

                

               When I was a kid, I was fascinated with the Dragon’s Lair arcade game.  It was like an animated movie that you could play!  So cool!  But I sucked at it, and back then you had to pay with quarters to continue if you used up all of your lives.  I just wanted to watch the cartoon, especially the end scene, which you could only see of you were good enough to progress to the end of the game. 

                So instead of burning through my limited quarter supply and not getting very far because I was crap at it, I’d actually give my quarters to skilled players who had already made it halfway through the game – so I could hopefully watch them get to the end and see the whole story. 

                So – watching folks play on YouTube isn’t much different – except that I don’t have to spend quarters on it!  Win/Win!

                I also discovered that video games as an art form have really taken off.  There are some truly beautiful and unique games out there now, and the genre is gaining in popularity.

                The one that really blew my mind recently is Journey.  It’s difficult to describe, so if you’re curious, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKqeD7ojynw

from the "Journey" video game.

               

               This game literally took my breath away – there are moments that are just epic and glorious, others that are quite frightening, or heartbreaking, or heartwarming.   The story is told completely through sound and imagery - there's no dialog at all.  You just wander through and try things and discover how it works and what's going on as you go along.  And the colors – WOW!   The artwork is so simple, yet elegant and evocative.  It truly creates a sense of atmosphere and mood and exotic mystery.

               

               I started seeking out other “artistic” games, and found some really cool stuff.  Another wonderful one is Ori and the Blind Forest.  The story is quite touching, and the artwork is just gorgeous - look at the colors!  Don't you just want to jump in there and explore?  Don't you want to COLOR this scene?  I do!

from "Ori and the Blind Forest" video game.

               It got me thinking about how much I love the imagery of a lot of games, which often involve designing entire worlds; scenery, costumes, characters, creatures.  I’ve done this kind of work on role-playing games before and I love it.  It’s something I’ve done since I was a kid.  I learned how to draw by copying other people’s designs, but then once I mastered the skills, I could apply them to creating my own characters and whatnot.

                I began revisiting a lot of the stuff that I loved as a kid – fantasy movies like Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, comics and graphic novels like Elfquest, animated films and anime that created entire fantasy worlds.  I started looking at them from the point of view of pure visual imagery and coloring opportunities.

                I started thinking about doing a book that was set in its own unique world.  I had a few ideas of that nature in my file, but none of them quite felt right yet.

                I felt like doing something light and fun.  

                I pay attention to when colorists mention what they enjoy coloring (which is just about anything, truly!), and since a lot of folks color for stress relief, I thought that working with uplifting themes would be good.  Whimsical, charming, cute, but not too simplistic or sugary. Something that would appeal to both adults and kids. Something that was both familiar and exotic. Lots of fun details. 

I decided I wanted to create a fun, beautiful world that people could escape into for a bit and fill with their own colors.

                I began sketching out some little characters, playing with shapes, thinking about what my world would be like.  As I sketched and explored, the concepts began to coalesce into something that began to take on a life of its own.  The framework became clearer, and the details began to naturally bubble up.

                My Sponge was full and ready to release something new!

Continued in Part 2!

Are you a video game fan?  What games do you think have the best imagery and design?  Let me know in the comments!

How Did You Make That??? "Dryad" Exceptional Adornment

This "Dryad" piece glows with the earthy colors of the forest - lush greens and fiery oranges. Graceful leaf shapes create a striking silhouette that evokes magical woodlands and forest nymphs.
The iridescence is also transparent, creating a unique stained-glass effect, and it flashes and reflects the light in a spectacular and magical way as you move.

So how did I make it?

Faerie Magic, of course!

Well, okay, perhaps that's not completely true - my magic is made with mundane materials and techniques I've developed through experimentation. 

Here's a Walk-Through of how I crafted this "Dryad" adornment.

Sketches and test prints

I keep a sketchpad nearby and scribble my rough ideas when they come to me.  These sketches are then either scanned into my computer, or simply used as a guide to create the final designs in Adobe Illustrator.

Designing shapes in Illustrator.

The design is in black and white - the white parts will end up being cut away, leaving the intricate black shapes.  I have to be mindful of how to construct the designs so that they cut well on my electronic cutting machine.  It's a balance of visual harmony and structural integrity.  In the case of this piece, which will be made out of several individual pieces connected with rivets, I designed each piece separately, carefully shaping them so they will fit together correctly.  At this point, I'll print out the design and roughly cut it out with scissors and hold it up to my neck to see if the sizing works, and adjust the design until I'm satisfied.

Setting up the cutting sheet in Make-The-Cut

 Once I'm happy with the design, the pieces are imported into the Make-The-Cut software that works with my Zing cutting machine.  The pieces are arranged on the virtual cutting mat, which corresponds to the actual cutting mat that is inserted into the machine.  A piece of Kraft*Tex (a marvelous material that I will write more about soon), is cut and pressed firmly to the mat, which has a tacky temporary adhesive on it.  The machine then cuts the shapes from the Kraft*Tex.

Gluing pieces to iridescent film

Once the pieces are cut, I choose some iridescent film colors.  In this case, I layered 2 colors of film, and alternated the order of the colors; the oak leaf shapes have orange/green on top and a more blue-green underneath, so the orangey tones are more visible, with the blue-greens adding subtle undertones.  The other leaves have the blue-green film on top, with the orange/green underneath, so their main color tone is more green, with the oranges as the undertones.  This ended up working out beautifully to create 2 alternating colors that harmonized perfectly together.

The Kraft*Tex pieces are sprayed on the backside with a spray adhesive and pressed face-up onto the top layer of film.  The second film color is then layered below this and ironed for a few seconds to melt the 2 film layers together.  The heat also shrinks and the film a bit, creating some organic dimension and texture, and sometimes shifts the colors a bit in serendipitous ways.  Too much heat/ironing can burn holes in the film, so this is a tricky step.

After ironing the 2 layers of film

Next, the excess film is trimmed off by carefully running an Exact-O knife around the edges of each piece on the back side.

Trimming excess film

The front of each piece is then brushed with a clear gloss acrylic medium, which seals the surface and laminates the Kraft*Tex layer to the film layer.

Applying acrylic medium

I do 2 coats of this, brushing the first coat in one direction, so the liquid pools up against one side of each cut-out area, let it dry, then apply a second coat in the other direction.

Acrylic medium pooling around edges of cut-outs

Once the varnish on the front is fully dry, I apply a thick coat of Diamond Glaze to the back side of each piece.

Applying Diamond Glaze to back side

This non-toxic liquid is self-leveling and hardens to a clear, durable, yet flexible resin-like surface.  This gives each piece a bit more substance and weight, seals and protects the film layer and creates a smooth feel against the skin.

Diamond Glazed backsides

 Once the glaze has cured, a coat of clear satin polyurethane is sprayed onto the front side of the pieces. This adds a water-resistant protective seal coat, and dulls the glossy varnish down a bit, which gives the Kraft*Tex a more "leathery" look that I think looks better than the shiny gloss finish.  

Spraying on polyurethane sealer

I use the massive Uline catalogs the company keeps sending (despite contacting them twice to tell them I don't want paper catalogs) as a quick and easy spraying surface.  Simply flip open to a clean spread, set the pieces down, spray and carefully relocate to the drying area, then close the catalog.  The sprayed pages stick together, so when most of the pages are stuck, I throw it into the recycling bin and grab the next one on the stack.  

Satin finish has dried and gems applied

 Next, embellishments such as Czech glass crystals or glue-on rivets are applied with Gem-Tac, a heavy-duty adhesive made to attach jewels to clothing.  It dries clear and flexible and strong.  

Assembling the pieces with rivets

Once the pieces are finished, they are arranged in proper order, being careful to get the overlapping parts correct, and brass rivets are hammered through the hinges.  A pair of long ribbons are attached with crimped findings and the piece is finished!

The finished product!

These simple materials have now been transformed into an Exceptional Adornment!  Lightweight and flexible, with movable rivet hinges and long ribbon ties so you can adjust the shape, fit and hang; you can wear this piece as a necklace or a choker, with a few bobby pins you can fashion a headpiece, or use some hidden safety pins through the ribbons to adorn your decolletage...make a hatband or attach to a belt - the possibilities are as endless as your imagination!  

See what I have available in my Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/cristinamcallister?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Introducing DreamCuffs!

Okay guys, here’s a first glimpse of the Crazy New Thing I’ve been obsessing over for the last few months.

Introducing DreamCuffs(TM!): Original Wearable Art That’s Armed and Dangerousssss…ly Fabulous!

Wear them on bare arms, or over sleeves or gloves. Accessorize your favorite costumes, or build a whole new outfit around them! There’s something empowering about strapping on a pair of bracers…like you can deflect any obstacles that come your way and let your most fantastic self shine!

It all started with an idea I’ve been kicking around recently; “If I were a fashion designer in the Faerie Realm, what would I design?”.
This idea made my brain a’splode, in a really good way. One insomnia-wracked night I envisioned faerie bracers made with iridescent wing-like shapes and textures, with graceful designs and shifting colors. I had to get out of bed and do some sketches. They looked really neat. Then I thought: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like that in physical form. How would you make something like that?”

I started doing some more drawing and research and experimenting and discussing with Dore and ultimately we decided to invest in a supercool (but somewhat expensive) machine that allows me to electronically die-cut my own original designs out of a variety of materials. So far, I’m loving this thing. It’s called the Zing, but Dore keeps calling it “The Zinger”, which cracks me up every time, which is probably why he keeps calling it that.
But seriously…there are SO my things I could do with this new art tool that I feel like I could be busy with it for the rest of my life!

But the thing that is really bringing down the Muse Hammer is this bracers idea. It combines my intricate design style with iridescence (something I’ve always wanted to play with!), it’s a way to get back to my fantasy-art roots in a new and exciting way, I can integrate different textures and finishes and embellishments to create truly unique and striking accessories for freaky people like me to wear to fun places. And not just armwear…I have some ideas for other accessories as well.
I was suddenly consumed with a burning NEED to make these things real and see people wearing them and feeling amazing.
I started thinking about other design themes besides the faerie one. I could do steampunk, cyberpunk, high fantasy designs, sci-fi/anime/video-game/pop-culture-inspired designs, punk and goth and tribal and urban fantasy, mythical figures, abstract geometrics, organic, nature-inspired designs, as well as applying my “gypsy mystery” style to them. Pretty soon, every cool or beautiful thing I saw became fodder for a design idea and I’ve spent many a late-night/early morning hour sketching out ideas and scribbling notes. I’ve got a TON of ideas to develop.

So who would wear these weird things? No one wears bracers anymore! Well, you know what? I think we should, because they are freaking COOL-LOOKING, amiright???

Whether you’re a man, woman or child, a Dreamer or a Dancer, a Performer or a Party Monster, a Burner, a LARPer, a Raver or Cosplayer, a Masquerader or Fearless Fashionista…here’s a fun, funky, fantastic “new” fashion accessory to add the perfect, eye-catching touch to your crazy-amazing adventure attire!

These are my first three successful prototypes, crafted from non-animal materials using an original construction method I devised after much research, trial and error. I’m currently field testing them, which usually involves me bopping around the house getting things done while my body is wearing pajamas (don’t judge me!), and my forearms are dressed like a dark sorceress and a steampunk adventurer, respectively. It doesn’t make for a very cohesive look, but it is giving me an idea about how they feel, function and hold up to wear, which are all essential elements of a quality product that I’m willing to sell to folks.

I’m still perfecting my method, so I’m not sure how long these will end up taking me to make. It is a multi-step process involving graphics design software, a machine that makes strange sounds, something called "weeding" that doesn't actually involve weeds, ironing, taping, cutting, painting, gluing, stenciling, sealing, riveting and lacing. But I think once I get my techniques and workflow down it’ll be worth the time and effort.

So – what do you guys think of my crazy DreamCuffs? Be honest. Would you wear something like this? Or more to the point – would you BUY something like this? Please post your feedback! And thanks for reading all of this, if you did.<3

My Method for Image Transfer for Metal Etching (Tutorial with Photos!)

When I set out to learn to work with imagery on metal, I found a wealth of online resources out there - blog posts and articles and tutorials and videos, some of better quality and usefulness than others.  Everyone had their own favored methods, materials and techniques for various things. 
One of the most varied processes was getting an image transferred to metal, to act as a resist to an etching acid, therefor creating a 3-dimensional design on the metal.
This process is used in jewelry making and other metalwork such as knife making and gunsmithing.  It is also used to make circuit boards.
I searched forums, videos and websites relating to all of these industries, and discovered that getting a good image transfer is tricky - hence the many different ways that folks have devised and tried to do it, involving irons and torches and films and different paper types and solvents and whatnot.
I tried them all, and most of them didn't work very well.  It was frustrating - as many who had come before me had mentioned.
But after weeks of research and experimentation and failing and tweaking techniques and figuring out what actually needed to happen and how I might be able to accomplish that, I finally figured out a way that works for me.
I now add myself to this list of generous Do-It-Yourselfers who are willing to share their secrets on the web.  Below is MY method for transferring an image to non-ferrous metal (ie: copper and brass) for etching with ferric chloride.

First Off: this method involves a LASER printer.  Inkjet won’t work.  Laser toner is actually a kind of plastic powder that is melted onto the paper to create the printed image.   

This transfer method involves printing the toner onto paper, then using heat and pressure to transfer the toner to the metal.

The kind of paper matters.  After trying many different suggestions (including expensive films made especially for this process, which didn’t work very well for me) the one that worked best for me was glossy magazine paper.  This kind of paper is coated with a thin layer of clay compound that effects its sheen, absorbancy, etc.  What makes it good for our purposes is that the coating keeps the laser toner from soaking too much into the paper fibers, which allows it to release from the paper and stick to the metal when re-heated.

The cheaper kinds of glossy magazine, catalog or junk mail paper is best because it is thin and dissolves easily, which is also important.  My best results (and the paper used in this tutorial) has been with Westways magazine – the free membership mag from the Auto Club of America.  I’ve used other kinds of magazines and catalogs as well with good results.

Bonus for being a material that most of us get delivered free to our mailbox every day (even though most of us don’t really want most of it!)!

Find a page that’s mostly white with text (it shouldn’t effect the transfer too much, but it’s easier to see what you’re  doing if it’s a mostly white page) and carefully tear the page out at the crease.

Some folks mention some ways to prevent the mag page from getting jammed in the printer, since most of them aren’t the standard copy paper size.  I haven’t had any trouble with running them through my printer just by setting the mag sheet in the paper tray on top of a small stack of regular copy paper. Make sure it's centered and flush against the top edge of the tray.

I lay out my designs on the computer in Illustrator to fit onto the pieces of sheet metal I’m using. 

So if I have a 3” x 6” piece, I’ll make a 3” x 6” rectangle in my print file, and arrange my designs to fit comfortably within that space, leaving room to cut around each separate design and some space around the edges.

Print Sheet layout example

Remember that your images must be in negative - black parts will protect the metal and leave a raised area (the bright metal surface), while the white parts will be exposed to the acid and will be eaten away to form darker recessed areas.

I can usually fit the image prints for 3 pieces of metal on a single mag sheet.  Also – since the mag sheets are smaller than regular copy paper, keep your images near the center of the sheet, so they don’t print off the edge.

A nice, dark and dense print is what you want, so fiddle with your printer settings to get the highest-density printing you can.

Put your mag paper in your printer and print your image on it.  It will come out with your images printed over the text and stuff on the mag page.

 At this point I cut out my rectangles that are the same size as my metal pieces, and snip off a little bit of two opposing corners.  Ill be using these to secure my paper to the metal in a moment.

CLEAN and SCUFF your metal.  I use a combo of a dab of Dawn dishsoap and a dash of Barkeepers Friend (a powdered metal cleanser/polish) and a piece of brown Scotchbrite to scrub and rough up the metal surface.  Make sure you scrub in different directions and get all the edges – transfer problems seem to happen most often around the edges for whatever reason.
Another note - the edges of the sheet metal I get are often very slightly curled where it was cut.  Use a rawhide mallet to hammer out any curled edges - you want your metal as flat as possible to make even contact with the hot skillet. Yes, I use a skillet instead of an iron - and it has saved my sanity!

When you rinse your metal, the water should sheet off, not bead up.  Make sure any powder residue is gone.  Dry with a clean paper towel.  Now it’s time for paper to get intimate with metal!

Here’s my setup:

Scotch Tape, Cotton Balls, Acetone, Scissors, Pliers, Burnisher, Clean flat skillet, Dish of warm water (I nuke mine for 30 seconds just before I start), Clean metal, Mag paper prints with corners snipped.  Also, you’ll need a sink and a stove.

The only special equipment I use for this is a burnisher my husband built for me out of a scrap of aluminum and a piece of Teflon he ordered.  It has a nice long handle, is heat-resistant and has a curved as well as “sharp” edge on it.  I most often use the curved edge, as it rides more smoothly. 

Ugly, but FUNCTIONAL!!!

You can probably use any kind of heat-resistant burnisher, such as the bone burnishers they make for paper folding, or the wooden ones made for sewing, like This One.

Just be sure it has a flat area on it so you have a nice wide, flat surface to smooth with.  A longer handle also helps, as that skillet gets hot!

The first burnisher I used was made of plastic and started to melt and get sticky and tear the paper. Not good.

Take a cotton ball and squirt some acetone on it and wipe down your metal surface until the cotton ball comes away clean.  Once the acetone has dried (in like 1 second!), place your image print FACE DOWN on the metal.  Use the scissors to cut tiny triangles of Scotch tape and stick those in those snipped corners to tape the paper to the metal.  Try to keep the tape pieces small and not overlapping imagery that needs to be transferred, as this can interfere with the burnishing.

Place your skillet over medium-high heat, set your metal piece PAPER SIDE UP in the center.  Let it sit for about 2 minutes.  The heat will start to curl the free corners of the paper.

After a couple of minutes, use your burnisher to start to smooth the paper down against the metal.  Start at the center where there is contact and smooth out to the curled corners, so you don’t get buckles and folds, or shift the paper across the surface.  The tape should keep it somewhat steady, but the heat will melt the adhesive after awhile.  Use a light touch – you don’t want to press hard, just firmly smooth the paper onto the metal.  You can use your pliers to steady the metal, but make sure you aren’t touching an area with toner under it, or you can scratch it.

At first, your corners will probably curl back up, but eventually, the toner will start to melt and get tacky and your paper will start sticking to the metal.  Once this happens, take your pliers and carefully lift a corner and check to see if the toner is transferring to the metal.

Once you see some of the black sticking to the metal, you know you’re in business.  Continue to burnish over the whole surface, making sure to get those edges, for maybe another minute and a half.  There’s no exact timing on this, but be aware that if things get too hot, the toner can melt too much and blur.  I use a gas stove – no idea about timing for electric or induction stoves.  You’ll have to experiment.

Not yet!

THERE it is!

Carefully grip an empty corner (I have to use the handle end of my burnisher to slide the metal toward the edge of the pan to get it to lift enough to get my pliers in there) and lift your metal (be sure you have a firm grip on it – it’s hot!) and take it to the sink.

Hit the BACKSIDE – the bare metal side – with a shot of cold water from the tap.  Then drop your piece into the dish of warm water, paper side up.

You’ll notice that the paper becomes translucent and starts to puff around the images.  Let it sit for a few minutes to soften up and release.  Then grab a loose corner or edge and gently peel back the paper.  Some papers come off in layers.  Westways seems to peel off beautifully, leaving little behind.  If you're using a thicker paper with layers, peel off a layer and let it soak a bit longer, then peel off some more. 

Eventually you’ll get down to some fibers that are stuck to the toner.  Rub with your thumbs to remove the pulpy stuff – under a running tap can help. 

You don’t have to get all of the fibers off.  Some tiny fibers will remain stuck to the toner, and that’s okay.  As long as your bare metal parts are shiny and fiber-free, it shouldn’t interfere with your etching.

When it dries, you’ll see the fibers as a whitish fuzz on the toner.

At this point you can inspect for flaws.  There are almost always flaws, which can often be corrected.  If it’s really bad, just use your cotton balls and acetone to clean off the toner, wash your metal again and start over.  You’ve only lost a sheet of magazine paper and a few minutes of time – which is good, because it may take you a few tries to get that hang of this. There are a lot of little things that can go wrong to mess it up - but the metal won't get ruined and you can always try again!

Corrections can be made with a Sharpie marker, acrylic paints, or special stuff they make for etch resists.  I like black acrylic paint because I can use a fine brush and correct even intricate parts of a design that have been marred. 

The consistency of acrylics can leave brushstrokes, which can result in an uneven coverage, so I usually do one coat, let it dry and do a second coat to make sure it’s covered.

Another thing I’ve noticed with acrylics is that if I do an etch longer than an hour and a half, the paint begins to dissolve, which can result in shallow patches of etching where you don't want it.  Most of the time it’s shallow enough that it can be sanded out, but be aware that the paint is not quite as durable in the acid bath as the toner is.

For areas where there is toner and there shouldn't be, I use a needle-point tool to gently scratch away the offending bits.

I correct any flaws in the toner coverage that show bare metal, and I also go over any areas where the layer of fibers hasn’t stuck.  These are areas where the toner hasn’t melted quite as much as the rest of it and there’s just a smear of toner on the metal.  I like to reinforce these thin areas with paint as well.

If you’re fixing an edge that’s going to be cut, you can err a bit beyond your cutting line as you’re going to be trimming and finishing those edges anyway.

Once your corrections are dry, cover the back of your metal sheet with some packing tape and you’re ready to etch!

Here's another example, and a quick review:
Oh - a quick note here - if you're doing more than one piece of metal, let the skillet cool between them.  Starting with a hot skillet can cause overheating and melting and blurring and burning and metal discoloration.
So:
Laser print on magazine paper, clean and scuff metal, swipe with acetone, tape paper image-side down onto metal with tape in snipped corners.  Place on cold skillet, heat for 2 minutes over medium-high heat. Edges will curl.

 

Burnish until toner gets sticky, burnish some more. 

 

Check a corner. If toner is sticking to metal, burnish for another minute-minute and a half.

 

Hit the backside with cold water (not shown here) and drop it into warm water to soak.

 

 Peel and rub loose paper off.

As you can see in this example there are some major flaws in this transfer.  I managed to salvage the two earring designs at lower left, cut them out of the sheet, and cleaned the toner off the rest of the metal, which I can use later.

I hope this tutorial is helpful to other self-educators and makers out there!  I want to give special thanks to my husband Dore for taking pictures of this for me, as timing is critical once you get going!  And for making me a custom burnisher that works perfectly. He's the BEST!!!

I also want thank all the bloggers and artisans and YouTubers out there in InternetLand who have shared their knowledge, with special mention for Nancy Hamilton, who has a bunch of videos on YouTube on jewelry making; tools, materials, equipment and projects.  I kind of love her.  :)  Check out her videos here:
In The Studio with Nancy Hamilton

That's all for now!