Illustration Tips: Easy Projector Alignment For Image Transfers

A quick demo and discussion on how to get perfect registration from projector to surface when doing a drawing transfer for a painting

[@vargogh]

That’s exactly how I do it and show it to my classes. Thanks Dave.

[@dvpalumbo]

For sure, thanks!

[@niteowl365]

This is sooo timely! I am about to transfer a smaller drawing to a much larger support than I typically use, so thank you!

[@dvpalumbo]

For sure, thanks!

[@velvetbees]

I have an old projector for wall murals. It is from the 1950's. It was used to project images on a wall so you can trace and paint them. This inspires me to use it like you are. It's kind of cool. It has two 150 watt light bulbs and a mirror in it to reflect the image onto the wall. It's a simple, but effective set up. PS, it also has a pair of beautiful glass lenses in it from back when they made stuff to work right and last forever.

[@dvpalumbo]

That's awesome! Yeah, I have a deep love for old photo equipment and the machines of the early to mid 20th century truly will outlast us. Some of the cameras I regularly use are over 70 years old and still make gorgeous images

[@PrimaryHughes]

Do you plan for framing the work at this stage? Since I was an illustrator first and moved to gallery work, I still sometimes forget that I'm going to lose that 1/4" under the frame. I've taken to either just getting it lined up and zooming out a little (small percentage) in PS or just scaling the image a bit before projecting. I still forget sometimes though and wind up with some tangents on the frame.

[@dvpalumbo]

Excellent thing to keep in mind. I usually do account for a little extra, either for framing or for bleed. Like you said, often that just means extending the edge ever so much before going to final. It's funny, I had the reverse experience where I started in galleries before moving to illustration so definitely was something I got a habit for pretty early on

[@ravenshadowz2343]

Is it true that if you draw on the canvas for the outlines with graphite, that the graphite will migrate to the surface of a finished oil painting over time?

[@dvpalumbo]

@@ravenshadowz2343 great question. So acrylic will contain the graphite, so it's a non-issue if you're working in acrylic. You'll likely have issues with oils but that'seasilysolved by just sealing the graphite first. When I use pencil for laying in the drawing (on my preliminary studies for example) I'll give it a very thin acrylic wash to seal the graphite before I put down any oils. You can also use acrylic matte medium to seal it

[@ravenshadowz2343]

@@dvpalumbo, thank, you for your answer, I'm an oil painting student, I guess a carbon pencil would be the best thing to use, since charcoal needs a fixative as well, we use carbon paper to do the transfer. I read about graphite pencils migrating so I wanted to ask a professional artist this question. Time to start painting.

[@dvpalumbo]

@@ravenshadowz2343 sure thing!