Frequently Asked Questions:
Working with Transfer/Stencils

These are the transfers/stencils lots of tattoo artist use to transfer designs from a drawing onto the skin prior to inking.

This is another really useful tool for henna artists and is far more flexible and offers a wider range of possibilities than the self-adhesive stencils.

One way to get a design onto a transfer/stencil is with a stencil machine. The drawback is that the machines are very expensive. Rather than investing so much money into a machine, you have other options. One is to contact a tattoo parlor and see if they have a machine and then see if they will print off some designs for you for a fee. The other is to purchase a package of the sheets used and make the transfer/stencils by hand. If you contact a tattoo parlor, you have a 50/50 chance that the owner will do it for you. You increase your odds when you provide your own paper.

Regardless of whether a tattoo parlor makes the transfer/stencils for you or if you do it yourself, you need to get your design ready for being transferred to the sheet.

Preparing your Design:

Getting your design ready to be transferred onto the sheet will sometimes mean that you need to turn the design into a line art design. You want to rid the design of any filled in areas and have a drawing that is only the lines which make up the design. This is easily done with tracing paper. Trace your design onto the tracing paper. Then make a copy of the line art design onto bright white paper from a copier. Be careful with your tracing. Any line or dot or smudge on your paper will show up on the transfer sheet when it is done by a machine.

The reason you want to rid the design of filled in spaces is that the ink from the transfer sheet is very dark and not so easily removed from the skin. Since your henna design is tranparent/translucent in nature, the dark purple/blue of the ink will show through and sometimes around the border of your design. Trying to remove this after the henna design is set proves to be hard to do. So don't transfer designs with those filled in spaces. Just transfer a line art rendering of the design and then use the original picture to know what areas of the design you will fill in with henna paste and what areas remains lines.

Transferring the design to your skin:

The thing that I have found that works excellently every time is isopropyl alcohol. Rub the alcohol onto the area of the skin where you will apply the transfer/stencil...lay the transfer/stencil with the inked side down on the skin...allow it to remain there for a matter of seconds...lift off...your design is there. You can lighten the inked lines if you desire by using a q-tip with some of the alcohol on it. Just dab the line to lighten it sufficiently. All you want is a transfer that you can see. It doesn't have to be very dark...and very dark lines can present that removal problem discussed above.

After your design is transferred, apply your henna paste and tend to your design with sealant and wrapping as usual. At paste removal, wait about 12 hours and then use the alcohol to remove any remaining ink from the transfer. Alcohol will not remove your henna stain.

One of the main things I like about these transfer/stencils is that they will decrease the amount of time required to do a complex design. They also allow you to repeat designs easily. Some people have a lot of difficulty creating circles. Having a lot of different size circles on transfer sheets takes out the guess work. Same with triangles, squares, rectangles.

These sheets are also a wonderful tool for transfering your original designs from your sketch to your skin. If you are like me, you never draw anything the exact same way twice. The transfers allow you to do it the second time exactly as you did the first time.

I have also found them handy when creating a design for someone. When I can measure their hand or make a template of it...or measure their wrist, anklet, upper arm, back etc., I can then create a template in the exact size needed. Then I can play around with designs until I come up with the one I want to use. I then transfer the design onto the transfer paper and when done, I have the exact design in the exact size I want. I really like having the flexibility to adjust the size of designs and not have to be limited to the size of the original drawing. You can alter the size of the design free hand or use a copy machine to enlarge or reduce the size of the design. Flexibility is good...:D

How to transfer the design from paper to transfer sheet:

Different people have different methods for this. This is my way. Place a blank sheet of paper onto a hard surface. Place the transfer paper with the inked side facing the blank sheet of paper. Place your design that you are transferring on top of the back side of the transfer sheet. Then take a sharp pencil or fine point stylus and trace your design. A pencil or pen with a fine point works for some folks better than the stylus because you can see your pencil/pen marks and know what area you have already traced and what part of the design that you have not. Basically you make a sandwich of the transfer sheet with a blank piece of paper on the bottom...tranfer sheet face down on the blank sheet...paper with design to be transferred on top.

I've referred to the transfer sheets here. But know that the old carbon paper businesses used for years, that is inked well can serve the same purpose and is often both easier to find and cheaper. The carbon paper can be used in the exact same manner as the transfer sheets when you transfer your own designs. The alcohol also transfers the designs done with carbon paper readily onto the skin...it also removes from the skin with the alcohol readily.

The transfer/stencils are a good tool to learn how to use. It is ultimately economical. The transferred designs can be used over and over again. Repeat usage is not recommended when providing designs for the public. But if you have a design that you are going to do over and over and over again, having design sheets with many of these designs on one sheet that you can then cut into individual pieces will save you lots of time and effort.

If you do parties and will have a limited number of designs to offer, these are helpful. If you do workshops where time is limited and having such a transfer will help your participants to get a design easily and successfully, keep them in mind. Once you learn how to use these, you will find all sorts of possible ways you can integrate them into what you do.

Is it cheating to use these?

Artist use the tools and materials available to them to create what they want. I have used a charcoal based transfer paper to transfer my original drawings onto canvas, tile for lino printing, ceramic surfaces, etc., for years. Once transferred, I then paint them with with paints, the glazes or carve the print. Having a way to transfer your designs is not cheating...it is smart.

With henna designs, there is something that is learned when you do the tracings of designs created for others for your own transfers. You become very aware of the various motifs and the elements that make them up. You begin to understand the construction of the design. Repeat the tracing process frequently enough, your mind and body learns the design. So the transfer/stencils are both a way to get your design transferred easily and exactly. But more importantly, they are away of teaching your hand and mind to construct and deconstruct the design and all of its elements.

Maureen

EveryDay Mehndi

http://www.everydayhenna.com

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