Gumoil Printing

Created by Karl Koenig in 1990, this process resembles the deep atmospheric values of nineteenth century photographs. In this process, a film or digital image is converted to a black and white positive transparency. The transparency is contact printed under ultra violet radiation onto durable watercolor paper coated with gum arabic and sensitizer. The image is developed in running water and when dry, rubbed with oil paint (usually black) and wiped off. Then the image is etched in household bleach which opens the next tonal region making it open to a second oil pigment. The final polychromatic prints are then glazed. Because of the characteristics of the process, no two renditions from the same transparency are identical. Each print is custom made by the artist.