Foil imaging

Foil imaging is a revolutionary printmaking technique developed at the University of Iowa by Professor Virginia A. Myers, with student research teams, in the late twentieth century. Enabled by the invention of the hand-held Iowa Foil Printer (IFP), it is a new art form derived from the commercial practices of foil stamping. Artists who work in this medium are able to utilize the same foil products as the foil stamping industry, whose output can be seen adorning wine bottles, mass market paperback books, wedding invitations, school supplies, and all manner of clothing (such as in MMA and hip hop fashions; witty t-shirts). Foil imaging can be used to create editioned prints or monos, and can stand alone, or in conjunction with traditional printmaking techniques, including intaglio, relief, serigraphy, and lithography; additionally, it can be used with many non-printmaking fine arts, including painting, sculpture, calligraphy, photography, and metalsmithing.
History
The technical foundation of foil stamping was laid in Germany in the late nineteenth century, when Ernst Oser developed a process to manufacture a synthetic gold leaf which, through a heat process, could be transferred to paper. This dramatically decreased the cost of a gold-leaf-look; the synthetic product became known either as hot-stamped foil, referring to its printing process, or as roll leaf, referring to its manufactured form (like a roll of ribbon, or saran wrap). Artists conversing among themselves commonly refer to it as 'foil'.
In the century following its development, roll leaf spread widely, particularly in the wake of World War I, with the revocation of German patent rights. Initially, roll leaf mimicked authentic gold and silver leaf. In the second half of the twentieth century, however, its palette exploded. Now, foils are available as translucent pearlescents, transparent tints (also referred to as "blind emboss"), specialty, holographics (both solid colors and patterns; opaque, and translucent), and pigments (opaque foils which can seem velvety or dense in their color weight). Not all of these varieties involve any metallic elements, but the majority of all foils are a gold or silver of some kind.
Held in the hands prior to printing, like a sealed tube of paint or another stock art supply, roll leaf foil can seem like a very thin, homogenous roll of colored cellophane. In actuality, though, it is a product comprising at least three layers—carrier, wax release, and color—and frequently two additional others: metal, and adhesive. The carrier is the polyester substrate, far less than a millimeter thick, upon which the other layers are chemically fabricated. The wax release coat dissipates when printing, and enables the polyester carrier coat to be peeled away and discarded.
Innovation
Professor Virginia A. Myers sought to raise the use of roll leaf foil from the level of an industrial product to the level of a fine art form. That long journey began in the early 1980s after she had developed techniques to incorporate genuine silver (and gold) leaf in editioned intaglio prints. While working on a book detailing those techniques, Professor Myers realized that her knowledge lacked an essential dimension: how to achieve mirror-surface with genuine gold or silver leaf when required to satisfy an aesthetic need. Investigation of that area led to her enrollment in a 4 ½ day seminar designed for owners and workers in active foil stamping companies in the U.S.A. Participants in the class were sent home with a "Kit"… a corrugated box containing a variety of roll leaf foils. That comprehensive seminar and box of foil engendered the future of the project to find a foil product which produced mirror surfaces.
Upon returning to her Iowa studio after the seminar, she resolved to determine whether the extraordinary mirror surfaces found in the metallic roll leaf foil, a purely commercial product, could be used by an artist. Her concerns centered on whether there was a viable art form within roll leaf foil and whether an artist-printmaker could produce bona fide editions with it, using only hand-held equipment. Her "Small Forest Fire" proved to her that roll leaf foil could be used, by an artist, with hand-held equipment, in the creation of fine art. That print incorporated foil stamping and manipulation, stenciling, multiple plates, and an ancient intaglio press, in a small edition. The aesthetic and technical achievements of "Small Forest Fire" inspired her creation of a large, magnificent foil monoprint, "Fire Theme."
Having proved to herself that roll leaf foil held the seeds of a viable art form, Myers commissioned the prototype of what was to become the Iowa Foil Printer (IFP). A precision machinist, Daniel L. Wenman, and an , James R. Phillips, developed and manufactured the model that was the basis for the IFP now in use. The IFP was patented in 1992, and listed with Underwriters Laboratories in 1997.
The IFP is composed of two components: the roller, formally referred to as the Iowa Foil Printer, and its hotplate. Both have their own heat controls. The hotplate is square and freestanding, either 24" or 30", with a hardwood carrier margin at its edges to allow for the printing of much larger works. The roller is comfortably held in two hands, and looks a bit like a cross between a toaster, a laptop, and a rolling pin—with bicycle handles. Neither component is imposing, but both are meticulously designed, calibrated, and machined. They are durable, versatile, high-tech tools which enable an artist to control very high-tech materials in expressive, aesthetic, and innovative ways.
The act of printing with roll leaf is referred to as 'stamping,' because the industrial processes used to print it involve great pressure, in addition to controlled heat; the Iowa Foil Printer allows individual artists to use comparatively little heat, and only gentle pressure to print with roll leaf. And while most commercial products adorned with foil use one layer of it, artists working with foil frequently layer foils together so as to have a larger, and far more nuanced, palette than is commonly seen in commercial applications. These differences are facilitated by use of an acrylic binder to adhere the roll leaf foil to the work. Frequently, this is applied like an uncolored acrylic paint to the substrate (paper, plastic, metal, canvas, etc.) which is to be printed with foil. Copier toners with acrylic components, and various acrylic sprays, can stand in place, or be used with, the liquid acrylic binder, as called for.
The IFP does utilize the same components of printing as seen in the industry: heat, pressure, and dwell. Heat, in this case, is precisely achieved and maintained. Unlike an intaglio hotplate (or one used for a cup of coffee), the IFP is not just 'turned on,' the temperature—to the degree—of the hotplate and the roller are separately selected; the units hold their temperature steadily through hours-long studio sessions. Most foils are stamped with the IFP at between 180°F and 220°F. Frequently, as artists become more experienced, they adjust the hotplate and roller to facilitate best stamping with their chosen foils; both components of the IFP are adjustable from 50°F to 260°F. Pressure rarely exceeds the weight of the roller as it is passed over the foil being stamped. Dwell is the length of time the work being printed is sandwiched between the roller and the hotplate. Most foils require only a brief pass or two, but by manipulating dwell time, artists can cajole contrary foils into compliant printing when other options fail or are not applicable.
The first class in foil imaging was offered in the spring semester of 1990, at the University of Iowa, in the Printmaking Department of the School of Art & Art History. Classes have been offered there ever since, including intensive summer sessions a week or two in length. Even during the summer of 2008, when a 500-year flood decimated the UI's Arts Campus, the 19th Annual Summer Foil Workshop was held up until the day when flood waters inundated the area surrounding the Print Department. (Reconstruction from that flood continues, and in the interim, auxiliary locations for arts classes, including foil imaging, have been found and upgraded.) Foil imaging classes have also been conducted at Kirkwood Community College's Cedar Rapids, Iowa, campus. In New York City, the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts has acquired an Iowa Foil Printer for use and teaching in its Robert R. Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. Individual artists continue to spread foil imaging—and the IFP—to areas of the world including Korea, and France.
Practice
Professor Virginia A. Myers' initial attraction to foil stamping was its vast and exhilarating palette, and this remains a strongly influential factor for new students who wish to embrace these revolutionary and highly contemporary printmaking techniques. Roll leaf foil provides the opportunity to work with holographics; metallics; sheer, dry washes of color; luminescent and pearlized color, in one material and with one set of processes. To wield this unprecedented vocabulary of color and light hand-in-hand with an established artistic vision may give voice to unspoken possibilities.
However, artists new to foil imaging can find the palette to be overwhelming. Roll leaf foil comes in rolls which are a bit less approachable than a tube of paint, or a can of ink. They are industrial products, manufactured for industrial foil stamping, for many kinds of common commercial products. A group of rolls can be intimidating in its commerciality, and can stymie selection by its very diversity of choice. Overcoming those obstacles, with play, practice, technique and skill, into a space where fine art can be created, is the critical task of foil imaging practice.
One of the ways Myers initiates artists into the foil imaging palette is to have them produce "scrapbox monos," an assignment that circumvents the standoffish aura of fresh rolls of foil by restricting their materials to the scrapbox: used, but not depleted, foils saved from previous students' work. These scrapbox foils enable students to produce works which are a far cry from the commonly known commercial products, and which enable the students to begin developing their own voice in this new medium.
Another way to render the palette more approachable is to make a color chart. Foil color charts can be quite elaborate, sometimes including up to six total layers of two or three overlapping foils: some foil imaging works require that nuance of hue. They can also be quite simple, designed to compare a handful of foils layered over each other or to provide precise colors or textures to satisfy personal aesthetic needs. Depending on the project, they can incorporate paint, ink, and other mediums, as well. Regardless of their scale, they are invaluable for focusing the expansive palette into the needed range.
While revolutionary, foil imaging holds a place in the pantheon of traditional printmaking techniques by virtue of being editionable. In addition to being editionable on its own, it is frequently combined with other traditional printmaking techniques, including intaglio, lithography, and relief. However, Professor Myers encourages her student research teams to experiment, and to cross-pollinate this new medium with other art disciplines. Hence, painters, metalsmiths, fabric artists, and photographers, among others, have incorporated foil imaging into their full bodies of work.
Across the board of all these variants, what differentiates foil imaging, the art form, from foil stamping, the industrial process, seems to rest in the working of the foil. Artists, versus commercial foil stamping printers, alter roll leaf foils with a variety of techniques, including stenciling, cutting, wooling out, alcohol manipulation, graphite transfers, acid etching, embossing, and resists. After making scrapbox monos, and color charts, these are the techniques which enable artists to control the roll leaf foil palette, and the artwork to say what needs to be visually stated.
Further reading
Myers, Virginia A., et al. Foil Imaging: A New Art Form. Cedar Rapids: WDG Communications, Inc, 2001. A thorough textbook, intended for students and artists, in full color, with illustrations, photographs, and detailed techniques.
Myers, Virginia A., et al. Foil Imaging: The Original Editioned Prints. Cedar Rapids: WDG Communications, Inc, 2006. A limited edition of 50, suitable for serious collectors and academic institutions. Each copy features a set of 22 numbered foil imaging prints, all of which were editioned in runs of 50 and above.

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