Paper Marbling

Warning - Paper Marbling is Addictive!

I'm not kidding! There is something magical when you drop or swirl ink so it floats on water, cover it with paper, and then lift it up to see what magical creation stuck to your paper. And you want to do it again and again! Each time its new and different.

The art of marbling paper dates back to the 11th century. It started in Asia and moved through the Islamic countries and into Europe. Different styles emerged and methods were kept very secret. Today there are many methods and kits available to try marbling at home. They range from simple to extremely involved. I tried a number of these and found that one stood out as the easiest and most successful: Innovation Marbling Kit, Japanese Suminagashi. This ink goes a long way. Almost 2 kits was enough for our entire class and my experimentation at home with my kids.

Best kit I've found - available on Amazon for under $14

Paper is another big component to success. I found that calligraphy rice paper gives the best results. If you use paper that has "sizing" in it (which most do), then you will end up with a softer, fuzzy version of your design floating on the water. Copperplate paper is supposed to work well, but I had dismal results as well. Rice paper is very thin and delicate which makes it tear easily, but overall it gives the best results by far!

I didn't show the students any real marbled paper examples before they started. I think this freed them up to explore what the possibilities were. 

If you want to see paper marbling (in this case, Ebru, or Turkish paper marbling) in action here is a video that shows a variety of methods and finished results.

If you want to show your child examples of "professional" marbled paper, check out this video. While it doesn't show the art of making it, the finished products are beautiful and varied. Its nice that the name of each design style is given as well.

How We Marbled Paper

The materials we set up were:
tray or pan - filled with 1-2 inches of water
ink - squeeze a little of each color into 1 section of an ice cube tray - it doesn't take a lot
paint brushes - 1 small brush per color to work quickly without cleaning brushes
paper - sheets of rice paper cut in half
paper towels
toothpicks, forks, marbling combs

We started with a small aluminum lasagne pan filled with about an inch or two of water. I tried distilled water, but realized tap water works just as well. Don't be disappointed if you don't get amazing results right away. We learned that the dirtier the water, the better our results were. 

Students began to add ink to the water. It is important that the ink float on the water, so you want to be fairly gentle. Any ink that sinks (and some will) won't adhere to your paper. That said, some methods employ shaking a brush over the water to get a splatter effect, so really, anything goes. That's part of the fun.

Students added ink to the water to create their designs.

Methods we talked about were dipping 1 color in, then another color in the middle of that one, then a color in the middle of that one, and so on to form rings of color. You can decide to end it there, or then use a toothpick to swirl it, or a fork or comb to brush it. Traditional Italian marbled paper is created by doing this, then brushing it one direction, then again at a perpendicular direction. You can even just blow on the ink to move it. There are many methods out there and the possibilities are endless.

We manipulated the ink with brushes, combs and toothpicks. You can even blow it around!

Once the students were happy with their floating design it was time to put the paper in. Our rice paper had one side that was smooth and the other was more fuzzy. The fuzzy side was the one that went into the water. They gently placed it on top. The minute it goes in, the ink sticks and you can pull it right out. You may see some light residual ink on the page, but once you lay it on newsprint or a paper towel, simply blot it off with a paper towel and that extra ink will go away. Don't worry - you can't smear or rub off the ink from the design.

Paper is placed on the water and the ink sticks to it when pulled out.

And just like that, the students made magic!

Every design is an original - as unique as the artist!

 To do it again, they simply scraped or lifted out any leftover floating ink with another piece of paper and started again. Remember, the dirtier the water, the better it worked. It may take a few less than fantastic designs before you have your first masterpiece. When you do...watch out, you'll be hooked!

This is something that kids of any age can do, and the prep work and mess are very minimal. Its an excellent rainy day activity, and the final art can be transformed into all kinds of things from note cards and gift tags to wallpaper.

I can't tell you how excited I was to see the incredible designs the students made. And they had fun doing it! Here is a range of a few designs from each student - believe me, they are even better in real life!

AB - such intricate designs and beautiful color combinations. The first one appears so subdued but when you look closely it has so much going on. Nice work!

BB - this student has quite the eye for detailed design. She used all kinds of colors in every one of them, yet somehow made them all feel different.

BCB - nice designs, but I think she was most excited by the last one because she thought it looked like a pig's face. She has an artist's imagination!

DB - really had the alternating circles down. The middle one is gorgeous marbling! So impressive. He even has the start of a "wave" technique happening a the top of the first one.

DK - really took to marbling and showed a great range of talent. The contrasting colors are so vibrant they really catch your attention.

IJ - beautiful progression from 1 to 2 color designs, followed by multiple colors in motion. I love how airy and delicate these are.

JD - I'm really proud of this younger student who had a fantastic grasp of pattern and balance. If I didn't know better, I'd say he had done this before!

JV - love the range of super delicate to simple beauty. I was excited to see that he tried different techniques and did so well at all of them.

LD - these look like professional end papers - wow! She took her time getting used to this new art form, but once she got the hang of it - look out!

MC - great use of black to make these designs really pop, and wonderful range of style! She dove right in - enjoying everything she tried.

MK - fabulous use of color as she progressed into bolder designs. She did so well that she was able to work with another student to show him the ropes.

NB - another example of a student who tried all kinds of styles successfully. I did a double take when I saw the last one - it looked like she had outlined this with a sharpie!

NoB - beautiful and delicate all the way to large and bold - she really got a feel for marbling! It was great to see her get more and more at ease with this as time went on.

PM - I was so excited to see that while he started off being very conservative, his art literally exploded by the end of class, becoming bold and dynamic. Way to go!

SB - So impressive how he nailed the circular forms and then pushed it to new levels as he got more expressive and comfortable doing this.

 

Don't Try This At Home

I did try some other, less successful methods of marbling and wanted to share with you in case you are tempted to shop around.

I tried the method where you mix regular cooking oil with food coloring. The results were bright, but didn't look like marbled paper at all. I found that I couldn't play with the "ink" like I could with the kit we used.

Oil and food coloring - doesn't look like marbling!

Jacquard Marbling Kit - this was a lot of work with dismal results! I felt like I was in a chemistry lab - mixing the solution that goes in the pan and the solution that you spray on your paper to make the ink stick. After all that prep work, then the ink seemed too thick and was not easy to work with. When the paper was pulled out of the tray, the ink ran and didn't stick.

The results were not worth all the effort that went into this kit!

I've tried the shaving cream method long ago where you put paint on top of shaving cream then press paper onto it. I found the smell overwhelming. I think the results were ok, in a messy, toddler kind of way.