The article illustrating an experiment with alkyds will be postponed for a week or two. I apologize if you have been looking forward to it. I hope you enjoy this next one in the meantime!

Beyond tracing with pencil and tracing paper, there are really no well known methods of transferring an image onto canvas in coordination with oil paints. However, there is indeed an effective transfer technique for gesso-primed canvas that many people are not aware of. It entails using acrylic gel medium and an image produced from a Xerox or copy machine. Here below is the technique step-by-step:
1. Copy or Xerox the image you want to transfer using a copy machine. Inkjet or LaserJet printers will not work; it must be a copy machine because of the type of toner used and how it affixes to the paper.

2. Trim the image to the exact size and shape to be transferred.

3. Apply acrylic gel medium generously and evenly on the image side of the paper using a paintbrush. Make sure little or no gel medium is applied to the blank/back side of the image.

4. Smooth out the image, wet side down, on an already well-primed (white gesso) canvas. Make sure that the entire image adheres to the canvas and is completely smooth.

5. Let dry completely; 24 hours is a safe assumption.

6. Saturate the dry, adhered image with water and rub the paper away until only the image remains on the canvas.

After you try this technique, if you haven't before, you will be amazed at the convenience this type of transfer affords. Not only does it replicate the copy exactly, but also the gel medium is a perfectly fine surface to paint oil colour onto. Furthermore, the toner is embedded in the gel medium, keeping the oil colour safe from the degenerative properties of the ink.

Unfortunately, however, this transfer method is so effective that it brings controversy to the "unique" qualities a painting may or may not portray. As such, it is not enough to fully understand this incredibly helpful procedure of transferring an image onto a canvas, but it is important to determine the impact of the technique in a conceptual way on your painting as a work of art.

There are few valid reasons as to why an artist would need or want to transfer an image to be used in an oil painting. One very encouraged reason is to help educate an artist new to oil painting. Using a transfer as a template in this way would eliminate the compositional aspect of oil painting in order that a new student could focus merely on the colour and its interaction with solvents and mediums on the painting surface. In this regard, I would recommend any beginner oil painter to try this technique, especially if the elements of composition and perspective do not come easily to the artist. More specifically, those who do not have a talent at drawing could greatly benefit from this application. Not to be misjudged as a substitute for gaining a grasp on the fundamentals of painting, it can be appropriate to use transfers on a limited basis until the artist is finally comfortable with the oil painting process. To this end, it would also be appropriate to consider those paintings produced with this transfer technique purely educational, and not works of art.