When I transferred the photo for the China book I wasn't terribly concerned about getting the entire photo or exactly how it would look: the transfer fabric was a dark color and somewhat grimy. This time I am more interested in a good transfer. Initially, I didn't think much about doing a test, but I made a mistake with my first printout. I forgot to reverse the image; I want the tree to point to the book opening. I decided to test the mistaken image.

One of the transfer instructions recommended Elmer's Caulk, a not easy to find medium. I got some in San Francisco. This morning I finally set up the test: a piece of white muslin taped to some cardboard. I spread the caulk with my fingers, carefully put down the transparency and rubbed it a long time with the back of a spoon. I am not happy, but I am very happy that this was only a test.

First, the stuff is shiny; back to the Liquitex Matte Medium. Second, the colors are wrong. Mostly the blues transferred, leaving yellow and red on the transparency. I got more of it to transfer than with the China book, probably by rubbing more. Reds didn't transfer on the China book either, which is why I stitched into them. The last mistake was that the muslin stuck to the cardboard as it dried. Really dumb on my part.