Paper marbling is a method of aqueous surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other stone. The patterns are the result of color floated on either plain water or a viscous solution known as size, and then carefully transferred to an absorbent surface, such as paper or fabric. Through several centuries, people have applied marbled materials to a variety of surfaces. It is often employed as a writing surface for calligraphy, and especially book covers and endpapers in bookbinding and stationery. Part of its appeal is that each print is a unique monotype.
There are several methods for making marbled papers. A shallow tray filled with water, and various kinds of ink or paint colors are carefully applied to the surface with an ink brush. Various additives or surfactant chemicals are used to help float the colors. A drop of "negative" color made of plain water with the addition of surfactant is used to drive the drop of color into a ring. The process is repeated until the surface of the water is covered with concentric rings. The floating colors are then carefully manipulated either by blowing on them directly or through a straw, fanning the colors, or carefully using a human hair to stir the colors.
The method of marbling most familiar worldwide is made on the surface of a viscous mucilage, known as size or sizing in English. This method is commonly referred to as "Turkish" marbling, the term "Turkish" was most likely used as a reference to the fact that many Europeans first encountered the art in Istanbul. The form of marbeling, Turkish marbeling, as most-widely known today is believed to have been derived from the form practiced in Turkey.[1] Although, there are similar, but lesser-known, forms made by Persian, Tajik, and Indian people.
Historic forms of marbling used pure pigments mixed with water for colors, and sizes were traditionally made from gum tragacanth (Astragalus spp.), gum karaya, guar gum, fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), fleabane, and psyllium. Since the late 19th century, the carrageenan-rich alga known as Irish moss (Chondrus crispus), has been employed for sizing. It has been suggested that False Irish Moss (Mastocarpus stellatus) was also used, although this substance has not specifically mentioned in historic literature.
Today, many marblers use powdered carrageenan, extracted from various seaweeds. But buying and cooking briefly in water the emptied packages of carrageen moss sold in Ireland for eating at breakfast is far cheaper and just as effective. Another plant-derived mucilage is made from sodium alginate. In recent years, a synthetic size made from hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, a common ingredient in instant wallpaper paste, is often used as a size for floating acrylic and oil paints.
In the sized-based method, colors made from pigments are mixed with a surfactant such as ox gall. These are then spattered or dropped onto the size, one color after another, until there is a dense pattern of several colors. Straw from the broom corn was used to make a kind of whisk for sprinkling the paint, or horsehair to create a kind of drop-brush. Each successive layer of pigment spreads slightly less than the last, and the colors may require additional surfactant to float and uniformly expand.
Once the colors are laid down, various tools and implements such as rakes or combs, are used in a series of movements to create more intricate patterns. Paper or cloth, often mordanted beforehand with aluminium sulfate (alum) is gently laid onto the floating colors (some traditional methods such as Turkish ebru do not require mordanting beforehand). The colors are thereby transferred to the surface of the paper or material.
Watercolor (US) or watercolour (UK and Commonwealth), also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water soluble vehicle. The traditional and most common support for watercolor paintings is paper; other supports include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, vellum or leather, fabric, wood, and canvas. Watercolors are usually transparent and it allows light to reflect from the surface of the paper. This gives a luminous effect. Watercolor can also be made opaque by adding Chinese white. In East Asia, watercolor painting with inks is referred to as brush painting or scroll painting. In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese painting it has been the dominant medium, often in monochrome black or browns. India, Ethiopia and other countries also have long traditions. Fingerpainting with watercolor paints originated in China.
