I learnt a useful way of transferring patterns on to different surfaces accurately at the Van der Kelen Institute.  The technique is  Pouncing. I used it here to put my hand-drawn marquetry design on to the faux mahogany table top.

Crushed charcoal can be used on a light surface and yellow ochre is a recommended pigment to use on a dark background.

Once the pattern has been transferred you can either join up all the dots or just use them as a guide. I used them to mask off the parts I wanted to keep clean. I don’t like using masking tape, but I had little choice in this situation as many parts are small and the pattern is complicated. In the centre I taped over the whole area, pounced on to the tape and then cut out the pattern.

pouncing pattern

yellow ochre

preparation to pounce

pouncing

pouncing results

taping

taping