> ~I've tried gumoil. It is not an easy technique to master. Itis very
> different from gum bichromate printing. First it uses an enlarged positive
> rather than an enlarged negative and uses oil paint rather than water color
> pigment. The effect is rather dramatic and high contrast. If you like
> Kodalith type images you will like gumoil. Making a monochromatic image is
> rather simple , the trick is doing the "bleach/etch" step. I was never able
> to see the change in the gum in the bleach bath nor was I am be use a water
> spray to remove the loosened gum. It always took a brush to remove the gum.
> The process was very difficult to control and the images all had a
> posterized look to them. Not what I was interested in.
>
> Larry Shapiro
>
And something else. I doubt process is very archival. At least they taught
us in painting-materials class about 1000 years ago that oil paint on
paper without isolating layer ultimately yellows, then rots, the paper.
Presumably *bromoil* was OK because gelatine layer of photo paper acted to
isolate the paper. But artists' paper used in "gum-oil" probably doesn't
have enough size to isolate the paper, even with extra size added. I would
think. Maybe some conservator will add facts.....
Judy