The Australien artist Margarete Clark is a master of pencil-sketches onto enamel. She mat a white pre-enameled surface with fine carborundum paper. After cleaning the surface she painted the sketch with a number 2B until 6B pencil. After that, she fired the piece very carefully.

I know of no material that you can print with the PC transfer to an enameled surface and fire permanently.
 
I have read, but never tried to do it by myself, that you  a laser-printer-print can transfering to an enameled surface. Lay the print with the printed side onto the enamel. Dabbing the back of the paper with alcohol. The print should be transfered onto the enamelled surface. After firing, the transfer should be permanent. 

Possible is, transfering a sketch with blue-transfer-paper by hand. Enameling a sheet like usual. Transfer the sketch with blue-transfer-paper onto the surface. Remove the transfer-paper. Sieving onto the whole surface a thin layer of a contrasting enamel. Heat up the workpiece to about 100-150 degree Celsius. Let the piece cool down. Turn over the sheet headlong. Knock strong onto the back of the sheet. The most of the enamel falls off, only the enamel on the sketch-lines stuck on. With a soft brush remove any exess enamel. Then firing again.
I hope, this description is understandable ? If not, I'll try to make some pictures in the next few days.

Edmund

Hi Edmund,

Stunning example of graphite on enamel, thanks for posting it.

I have used the laser printer/ toner copier to make transfers to fabric and polymer clay, but haven't thought to try it on enamel. I will give it a go.

The blue transfer paper you refer to, is that PNP Blue or some other type of blue paper. I have used PNP to etch copper. I think I get what you are saying, and I will give that a try too.

All I need is about a 28 hour day. Never seems to be enough time to do all the things I want to.

Thanks again, and would love to see examples of the methods you mention, when you have time.

Michelle

Hallo Michelle,

 

yesterday I spoke with a friend. He is a printer. He says, that he think, that you not can transfer Laser-prints with Alcohol to other surfaces. . He say, he would try it with a warm, not to hot flat iron. I can not warrant, that this technique works well. So as I said before, I have never tried it.

 

The blue transfer paper that I mean is not PnP blue. I know two kinds of copy-paper which normally get needed with typewriters to make copies from your letter or so. One paper has a black-copy-shift, and is also called carbon-paper.

The other one is also a very thin paper but the copy-shift is blue and contained wax. If you work with this blue-copy-paper, (Tracing paper ??) the wax get transfered to the, in our case, enamelled surface. If you sieving enamel onto the enameled surface and warm up the workpiece, the wax melts, and the enamel is sticking onto the wax. Now you hold the workpiece upside down, and the enamel, which don't come in contact with the wax, falls off. Now you can fire the workpiece as usual and the scetch is affiliated with the pre-enameled surface.

Unfortunately I have no pictures from finished work. Mostly I had  let make this technique  in my enamel courses for kids. For kids it was easier  transfering sketches from  other pictures. If the sketches were fired, it was for the kids easier  their workpieces to colorize.

At the end of this reply, you can see an PDF-file with some pictures

Edmund

Hello Edmund,

Thank you so much for all the info. I really appreciate your time and knowledge. Do you know if the blue copy paper is available to purchase anywhere?

Off to class where I will share all of this info with my teacher.

Thanks again,

Michelle

Hallo Michelle,

I'm glad, if I could help you. I asked the German manufacturer Pelikan for the international name (identification)  of the copy paper. He wrote me: The Product name in english is: 

Pelikan, plentycopy 200H,  Carbon paper for handwriting.

In Germany I buy this paper in stationer's or in shops for art supplies.

I "ggogled" under "Carbon paper for handwriting" and then under "Pictures" and found suppliers around the world. Important is, that the copy-layer of the carbon paper contain wax. 

Friendly regards

Edmund

Thank you again Edmund!

Apparently the Pelikan paper is (so far) not available in the US. NU-kote is the brand I can probably get, though I will have to see it in person because there is no mention of the paper containing wax.

I'm going to call Thompson Enamel and see what they have, and try my local office supply and art supply stores.

If anyone out there in the U.S. has a source, please share. TIA!

Hallo Michelle,

Coincidentally today I looked into the book "The Art of Enameling". Linda Darty writes there that you have a tracing paper uses the contains wax. While it is not the one I described, but maybe it works so well with it. She writes on page 96, among other things:

"I often use red dressmaker's tracing Paper that I buy at sewing supply stores and fabric stores. Because this is a waxy paper, it may interfere with underglaze pencils and chalk".

 

Edmund

Hi Edmund,

I looked at the Thompson Enamel catalog and they have a transfer paper that they said is wax based so I ordered a pad. Should arrive next week. Now all I need is the time to play with it.

There is also (on Page 96) a comment about making your own transfer paper by heavily coloring the back of the paper your drawing is on with a soft pencil, then tracing the image from the front onto the enamel piece. I have done this since I was a kid, so it seems like a very easy thing to do.

 

Michelle

This work is graphite(HB) pencil drawing on the 533 white of liquid enamels.It's kiln firing.

I etched the fired enameled panel with etching cream .

And copied the singer's photo with Carbon paper .

And sketched the copied image with HB grapite pencil.

And fired it

It's just showing my work.

size :5x5cm,  copper panel

Lovely work and a very good idea! Copying the conceptual design onto the pre enameled surface and then trace it with pencils. That should also with enamel- or cerarmic crayons from Thompson enamel working.

Edmund

Thank you for posting this pencil on enamel. It is a very nice example.I got a little side tracked from the pencil when I discovered Thompsons painting enamels. The tiny bit that I used the pencil on was also a #2HB pencil.

Etching cream is a really good idea. I have given tooth to my surface by using really coarse sand paper, and also using a diamond bit in the flex shaft.

Thank you for the posts and the wonderful examples. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post soon.

Michelle

533 white  is  thompson products.HB pencil is made in Germany.533 white is better to hold the grapite pencil sketch than standard 80 mesh powder enamels.

My experience is that the lead of the pencil becomes faint on second firing. 

 

 

 

There have been a couple of posting with wonderful pictures. I think if you fire too hot or too long, the graphite does tend to "sink" into the enamel. I'm going to be working on a piece soon that I intend to use graphite on, and I will do it toward the end of the layers.

I found this HP: http://home.comcast.net/~frankgaydos/Decal-1.html

Maybe you can use it for your projects.

Edmund

I was just at that web site this morning! Amusing that you were there too. I just ordered some "murrinis" from this site: http://www.envisionsf.com/ 

I plan to use them in apiece that is still in my brain with graphite, so when that happens, I will post a picture. It has to happen before November, so don't hold your breath just now.

 

Thanks for the link. M black and white printer is toner, but not sure if it would work.

I wonder about a black ceramic underglaze pencil?

http://www.tuckerspottery.com/tkps/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=149&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1

I have a black "mechanical pencil crayon". don't like it so much it's very waxy and hard to get a nice line even on a very matt finish.

What if people used the ceramic transfer papers:

 

http://www.axner.com/transfer-paper.aspx

I've never used transfer paper. I've been torch firing, but I do have a kiln. I like being able to draw right on the enamel piece, but I also appreciate the link because I might like to try the decals in the future, so thank you very much Kathy.

I'm a glass person and use photo-fusing decal paper to fire onto glass (and ceramics). You need an HP (black-only) Laser printer (even an old model). I get my paper from Ed Hoys, but the key is the printer to make your own decals, from pictures or digital prints. Good Luck.

Thanks for the info Barbara. I think I won't be buying a new printer (mine is toner) to try this, but you never know! ;-)

I recently discovered, quite by accident, that you can draw on already fired enamel with a regular #2 soft pencil, then fire again and the pencil marks seem to "marry" with the enamel and become fired in and permanent.

At the same time, my metal smithing teacher discovered the same thing. (No such thing as an original idea:-). We were discussing the possibility of creating original drawings, and trying to find out if there is a transfer paper that can be run through a printer and then be used to transfer the design to the enamel, and torch fired onto the enamel.

IF there is such a product, I would appreciate hearing anything about it, where to buy it, etc. We are currently enjoying torch firing, but do have the ability to fire in a kiln, so if there is a product, but only for kiln firing, I would like to hear about that too.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can provide any info about this.

Michelle