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Karl is the inventor of the Gumoil photographic process, which he created in 1990.
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Writer / Karl P. Koenig
The gumoil process
Always be careful when handling chemicals. Read the health and safety instructions.
In 1990 Karl P. Koenig created the gumoil photographic process of making polychromatic prints. It is a positive to positive process. That is, an enlarged photographic image on film, plastic, or on thin white paper is contact printed on an equally large sheet of good quality water color paper which has been coated with unpigmented gum arabic, sensitized with potassium bichromate. This sheet is then developed in plain water and a faint (negative) image emerges on the yellow surface. Air dried, after thorough washing, it is then pigmented with oil paint vigorously rubbed over the entire surface.
The excess is later wiped off. In a short time, this sheet is dipped in an etching bath which exposes the next tonal regions of the picture, and when dried again, a second color can then be rubbed in. This too is followed by etching, washing and drying. Several colors can by this method be applied. Note that this is photographic pigmenting, not hand-coloring. Note also that this is not what is known as oil printing nor is it the historic gum bichromate method. Although the "technology" of the gumoil process is distinctly 19th Century, its components were not actually put together until recently. Ultimately a complete picture is accomplished which can be varnished and matted.
The process uses:
Potassium bichromate: Saturated solution, warm, one part with three parts liquid gum arabic.
The etching bath is clorox, one part, and six parts water.
A more detailed procedure with the chemistry, timing, and technique spelled out can be found in Karl's book Gumoil Photographic Printing.
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