Paper Marbling

Marbling

Marbling dates back to the twelfth century in Japan. Some believe it was discovered by chance by a member of the Japanese imperial family who accidentally submerged sumi ink paintings in water, watched the inks float to the surface, then placed a piece of paper on the floating ink, raised it up, and preserved the image. Suminagashi, or "ink floating," was the name given to this technique.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, marbling spread across Europe, but only a few people knew how to do it. Old Dutch, French Curl, and Italian Hair Vein are examples of patterns named after countries that are still used today. 

Marbled endpapers were first used in books in 1655, and marbled paper was widely used in England twenty years later. Until the middle of the eighteenth century, marbled papers were thought to be almost exclusively the domain of the French and Germans.

Examples of different marbling:

Turkish Ebru Marbling (Cloud Art)

They used oil or gouache paints instead of floating inks on the water. Before they started marbling, they applied a thickened medium called size to the water to help the heavier paints float. The added size prevented the inks from sinking, giving the marbler more power over colour movement and pattern formation. A feather, stylus, or other object was used after the paint was lowered into the water, a feather, stylus or comb was made to create the movement of the patterns.

My Marbling + Close ups

For my first attempt of marbling, I didn't plan what colours or swirls I will make but that's the fun of it - every pattern is unique. I love all of the patterns I made specifically the first and last due to the outcome of the swirls and huge contrast in colour. I will definitely use this technique again for backgrounds or a ready art piece to draw on and add details. I'm surprised I haven't found out about this art sooner!

Co., D., 2021. Marbling - History. [online] Dharma Trading Co. Available at: <https://www.dharmatrading.com/techniques/marbling/marbling-history.html> [Accessed 19 April 2021].

Payhembury.com. 2021. A brief History of Marbling. [online] Available at:

 <http://www.payhembury.com/Payhembury_Marbled_Papers/History_of_Marbling.html> [Accessed 19 April 2021].

Scarlett Entertainment. 2021. Turkish Ebru Paper Marbling | Scarlett Entertainment. [online] Available at: <https://scarlettentertainment.com/acts/turkish-ebru-paper-marbling#actImage-1> [Accessed 19 April 2021].

Suminagashi | The Ancient Art of Japanese Marbling. 2021. History of Suminagashi and Marbling | Suminagashi. [online] Available at: <https://suminagashi.com/history/> [Accessed 19 April 2021].