How to Marbleize Paper: Step-by-Step Instructions for 12 Traditional Patterns

by Gabriele Grünebaum

Overview

The beautiful centuries-old craft of marbleizing — decorating paper through the use of "floating colors" — dates back to eighth-century Japan. Today marbleizing is a newly popular craft, enjoyed for the exquisite and unique designs it produces (no two are alike) and its myriad of decorative applications.
This volume is a complete step-by-step illustrated guide to the entire marbleizing process. Artist Gabriele Grünbaum shows you how to prepare colors, form beautiful and striking patterns, and transfer them onto prepared paper. Included are a list of tools and materials and helpful suggestions for avoiding common mistakes. In addition, an informative introduction traces the history of this wonderful handicraft.
Create beautiful, versatile craft papers with colorful swirls, bold spotted designs, and exciting combed lines. Choose from 12 different patterns: Fantasy, Stone, Swedish, Wave, Comb, Snail, Bouquet/Peacock, Floral, Veined, Tiger, Oil-Color, and Oil-Color Batik.
Marbleized paper can be used for decorating books, boxes, lampshades, wall hangings, decoupage, picture frames, linings, wallpaper, greeting cards, stationery — almost any art or craft project. Artists and crafters who want to create their own original marbleized papers will find this inexpensive edition a handy guide for learning basic techniques and a rich source of design ideas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486157382
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	06/14/2012
Series:	Dover Crafts: Origami & Papercrafts
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	7 MB

Read an Excerpt

How to Marbleize Paper

Step-by-Step Instructions for 12 Traditional Patterns

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By Gabriele Grünebaum

Dover Publications, Inc.

Copyright © 1984 Gabriele Grünebaum
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-15738-2

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CHAPTER 1

The Paper Marbleizer

The copperplate engravings on page 4 (Ills. 1 & 2) show the steps involved in marbleizing as it was done two hundred years ago. A typical workshop of the time is shown. Although only one person was usually employed in the production of marbleized paper and performed all of the operations one after the other, each one is done in the illustrations by a different worker (Figs. 1-11) in order to show all steps of the marbleizing process.

On the right in III. 1, Fig. 1 is preparing the marbleizing size. On the other side of the room, the man at the second window (Fig. 3) is dripping colors onto the size with a small brush. In front of him, Fig. 4 is drawing a comb through the color drops on the size to create the pattern for snail marbleized paper. The floating pattern is transferred (Fig. 5) to the paper by laying a sheet on the size. In the background (Fig. 8) the wet sheets are being hung up on lines to dry. At the left (Fig. 2), pigments are being ground and pulverized for the production of marbleizing colors—a chore done nowadays by art-supply manufacturers.

On the left side of Ill. 2 we see two bookbinders. The man in the rear (Fig. 11, No. 1) is forming the patterns on the size with a stick. The man in front (Fig. 11, No. 2) is dipping the books in a tray to transfer the patterns to the book edges. Nowadays this time-consuming work is rarely performed by bookbinderies.

To preserve fine paper after the colors have been applied, it is again drawn through a thin glue solution and dried. This is being done in the rear of the workshop by the man at center (Fig. 10, No. 2). On the right side of the room paper is being pressed smooth. Fig. 9 is rubbing paper with a waxed wool cloth. Behind him a worker (Fig. 10, No. 1) is smoothing it with an agate stone. Only particularly rough paper was treated in this way. The paper we use nowadays does not require smoothing.

CHAPTER 2

Workplace, Tools and Materials

Marbleized paper is produced basically the same way today as it was two hundred years ago. The most important tools and ingredients are shown in the old copperplate engravings on pages 6 and 7 (Ills. 3 & 4). They include trays for holding the size, brushes for color dropping, combs for pattern forming and a workbench with many tools for smoothing, decorating and drying paper. It is advisable to set up your workplace near a water faucet since water is frequently needed for rinsing the marbleized paper and cleaning tools.

The following materials are used in classic marbleizing: Large pot

Marbleizing tray
Coarse sieve
Fine cloth (nylon stocking, towel, etc.)
Large container
Wooden sticks
Distilled water
Drop brushes and pipettes
Marbleizing combs
Small pot
Alum
Paper
Newspaper
Paint containers
Marbling colors
Ox gall
Moss preservative (optional)
Carrageen moss (Irish moss)
Various chemicals (as stated for certain patterns)

The Supply Sources section on page 30 lists places where carrageen moss, ox gall, marbling colors and other materials can be obtained.

The colors, paper and size ingredients used in classic marbleizing are discussed in the following sections. Once you have the items listed above, you can begin to prepare the ingredients and materials.

A large pot is needed for boiling the carrageen moss for the size. How large a pot you will need depends on the capacity of your marbleizing tray. For the directions given for size preparation in Section 3, a pot with a 3-gallon capacity will do. After boiling, the moss mixture is strained through a coarse sieve and then through a fine cloth to remove all solid residue from the size. The straining can be done into any large container. After it has set, the size is poured into the marbleizing tray.

The classic marbleizing tray is a 3"-deep sheet-zinc basin, but simple plastic trays, such as those used in photo laboratories, are well suited for marbleizing. Trays are available in many different widths and lengths—20 × 26" is an average size—but they should be somewhat larger than the paper you are marbleizing. The more expensive metal or wood trays have a separate overflow compartment at one end for collecting the color residue and other waste products. This feature is not essential; residue can be scraped into any long container.

You should have on hand enough wooden sticks to stir the colors in their separate containers. The colors are mixed with a dispersing agent, ox gall, which keeps them from sinking into the size. If the colors need to be diluted, a little distilled water can be added.

In addition to simple wooden sticks, marbleizing combs are necessary for forming some color patterns such as those on the comb marbleized paper. A few types of marbleizing combs can be bought from suppliers, but handy, inexpensive ones can be made at home. Instructions for making different types of combs are given on pages 18, 20 and 22. Alum, copper vitriol, blood albumen and other chemicals used as separating agents will be required for some patterns.

To apply the colors and chemicals to the size, drop brushes, pipettes or sticks are required, at least one for each mixture. Drop brushes, which are good for shaking a large amount of color onto the size, are usually made out of camel's hair or straw. An inexpensive homemade alternative to the drop brush is one made out of broom or drinking straws. It can be made by binding a handful of straws together with a string, rubber band or tape. The straws should be at least 8" long and bound in the middle to leave a 4" handle.

A small pot is used in preparing the alum solution with which the paper is treated before marbleizing so that colors will adhere to the surface of the paper. The solution is applied with a soft sponge to the side of the paper being marbleized. If both sides are being decorated, the paper can be drawn through a shallow tray filled with the solution.

When the size has stood untouched for a while and before each application of color on its surface, the size is cleaned by skimming the surface film over the end of the trough. Narrow strips of newspaper or cardboard can be used for skimming; make many strips because they rarely can be used more than once.

Tools and containers should be cleaned after using. Dirt, oil and residue from the various mixtures can adversely affect the colors and size and ruin your patterns. Some suppliers offer surgical gloves and protective cream for people whose skin is sensitive to the colors and chemicals used in marbleizing.

CHAPTER 3

The Marbleizing Size

The first step in classic marbleizing is the preparation of the size, the thickened solution of vegetable matter to which the colors are applied. A mistake frequently made by beginning marbleizers is the failure to appreciate the importance of the preparation and treatment of the size. Colors will not react well on unproperly prepared size. Age, temperature and composition all affect the size's consistency.

The classic marbleizing size is commonly made with a dried seaweed, carrageen moss, also known as Irish moss. Carrageen-moss size should be made at least a day in advance of marbleizing.

Carrageen-Moss Size Recipe

8 qts. water (very hard water should be mixed with ½ oz. of borax)
5 oz. carrageen moss
8 Tbs. size preservative (35% formaldehyde solution)
2 qts. cold water

Pour the 8 qts. of water into a large pot and stir in the moss. Add the size preservative if you are planning to keep the size for longer than four days. Cook the mixture for about 10 minutes, stirring it when it boils. Add the cold water to the hot brew. After the liquid has cooled, pour it through a sieve and strain it through a fine cloth to remove the solid residue. The strained size can be used after it has lain covered in a cool place for 24 hours and has become slightly gelatinous. The size is poured into the marbleizing tray, filling it to at least a 1" depth. Surplus size should be covered and set aside. The size and the tray should both be at room temperature.

Carrageenam, a prepared extract of the seaweed, can also be used for making the size. It does not need to be boiled or strained. You simply mix it in a blender—4 Tbs. of carrageenam will be enough for about 10 qts. of size. Carrageenam costs about three times as much as carrageen moss, but you may find the convenience well worth the price. It is available from many distributors of marbleizing supplies.

CHAPTER 4

Colors and Ox Gall

Classic marbling (marbleizing) colors are made from very finely ground pigments mixed with distilled water. Nowadays many different marbling colors are available, usually in liquid forms and are recommended because you can be sure that the pigments have been ground fine enough to prevent them from sinking into the size. For your first marbleized projects it is best to prepare only one or two colors. Each of the prepared colors must be tested again and again on the size, and adjusted if necessary, until it is of the right composition to float and spread out properly.

To keep the colors floating on the size and prevent them from mixing with each other, they are combined with prepared ox gall. A few tablespoons of color mixed with several drops of ox gall will be enough. The colors can be diluted with distilled water if they are too thick to work with easily. The colors, ox gall and distilled water should all be at room temperature.

Before testing the colors, make sure that the size is satisfactory. Surface film should be skimmed off with a newspaper strip because film and any other residue left in the size will prevent the colors from spreading properly. The size should be at room temperature—sizes that are too cool will cause the colors to sink; sizes that are too warm will cause the colors to spread far apart. If necessary, a little cold or warm water can be added to the size and gently but thoroughly stirred in. If, despite all adjustments with the colors, they will not spread out or float, it is possible that the size is too thick and needs to be thinned with some room-temperature water. Thick sizes trap colors in heavy concentrations that sink. Thin sizes, on the other hand, do not hold the colors in the desired pattern satisfactorily.

When all is ready, put a large drop of color with the mixing stick on the surface of the size. The color drop should spread out to form a circle of about 3". If too little ox gall has been added to the color, the drop will not spread enough and will sink. The correct composition can be produced by adding the ox gall to the color mixture drop by drop and then retesting it on the size. If the color drops expand too much, the proportion of ox gall is too high and more marbling color from the bottle should be added to the mixture.

CHAPTER 5

Paper

Paper used in marbleizing is exposed to hard tests. In classic marbleizing, the sheet is moistened with an alum solution, laid on the colors in the size bath and pulled out of the tray by two corners. To prevent tearing, you should always use firm paper such as papier Ingres or vat paper, but packing and typing paper are also suitable. The paper can be white or colored. Trimming the paper will be necessary if it is too wide to fit in the tray with inches to spare on all sides.

To make the colors stick to the sheet, the paper must be given an even coating of an alum solution before it is marbleized. To make the solution, 3.5 oz. of alum crystals are poured into a quart of boiling water and dissolved. Be careful to measure correctly; an overly concentrated alum solution can cause colors to flake off the paper. When the solution is cool, the side of the sheet to which the color is to be applied is dampened evenly with a sponge. If you wish to make the paper a little firmer or marbleize it on both sides, the solution can be poured into a tray and the sheets dipped in it.

After the paper has been treated with the solution, it is laid out to dry. Place a weighted sheet of cardboard on top of the paper while it dries to keep it flat and prevent wrinkling.

The paper should not be completely dry when the patterns are applied to it; it can be worked with more easily if still a little damp.

Paper is usually prepared in batches. After marbleizing the first sheet in the batch, you may discover that your alum solution was too strong and the colors are flaking off the sheet. You can still use the rest of the papers in the batch if you first apply a thin solution of wallpaper paste to the alumed sides of the sheets before marbleizing.

CHAPTER 6

Classic Marbleizing

Classic marbleized paper is produced basically the same way as is described in Section 1. After the size has been skimmed, the paper prepared, colors tested and all necessary tools are ready, you can begin creating marbleized patterns. Drops of color are applied to the surface of the size where they spread out but do not mix with each other. The method used for patterning the colors on the size will vary according to which type of marbleized paper you are making. Drop brushes, sticks or pipettes are used for dropping the colors. Combs, sticks and chemicals are used for making patterns.

Illustrations 5-10 show the basic steps for making one type of pattern—in this case, that for peacock marbleized paper. In Ill. 5, the colors are being sprinkled on the size from a drop brush. The brush is dipped into a paint container and held above the size. Colors are then shaken onto the size or the brush is tapped so that many drops fall at once. Separate brushes are required for each color used. The color that is sprinkled on first usually spreads out the most.

In Ill. 6, the end of a paintbrush is being used as a stick to draw lines across the surface of the size. The colors form a series of arrowheads pointing in the direction that the stick is being drawn. The drawing should be done lightly so as not to disturb the size, and the points of sticks or comb teeth should not be allowed to dip below the surface of the size. Drawn smoothly across the tray from right to left, the points of a fine-tooth comb are shown leaving a typical comb pattern in the colors in III. 7. Combs and comb patterns are described on page 18. Ill. 8 shows a peacock board being drawn from right to left in a back-and-forth snaking motion to make a peacock pattern similar to the one shown on the front cover. Patterns should be formed fairly quickly. As soon as you have a satisfactory pattern, transfer it to the paper before it changes or starts to sink.

When the pattern is ready, the alumed paper is lifted by diagonally opposite corners as shown in III. 9. Without folding or creasing the paper, lay it slowly and carefully on top of the colors in a smooth, even movement. If the paper is laid too abruptly, ripples can form on the size and cause the colors to come together in wave-like patterns that cover the paper unevenly. This effect is desirable when making wave marbled paper, but you can also unintentionally destroy other patterns. You should be particularly careful to lay the paper smoothly so that no small air bubbles form between the size and the paper. Air bubbles interfere with the color transfer and cause white spots to appear on the paper.

Patterns are transferred to the paper at first contact. As soon as the entire surface has been marbleized, lift up the paper by one end, as shown in Ill. 10, and remove it from the size. Rinse the sheet with running water to cleanse it of any remaining size residue, or, if no faucet is handy, wipe the paper with a damp sponge. After the sheet has been cleaned, it is laid out flat or hung up to dry. The finished paper can then be used for any number of decorative projects or be hung up to admire. Waxes and varnishes are available that will give the paper a hard finish.

Before the marbleizing size can be used for new patterns, it must be cleansed of all color remnants, some of which float on the surface as small particles. Take a strip of newspaper or cardboard and push the remaining floating colors to one end of the tray. There they can be scooped into an overflow box or over the edge of the tray. A film will appear on size that has not been used for a while. Be sure to skim it off before applying more colors to the size.

CHAPTER 7

Oil-Color Marbleizing

The methods for producing classic marbleized paper and oil-color marbleized paper are very similar, but the ingredients used are considerably different. Less preparation is necessary for oil-color marbleizing, but your control over the patterns is limited. The technique for applying and patterning oil colors is described on page 28.

For oil-color marbleizing, the paper does not have to be treated with alum and it does not have to be washed with water after the transfer of the floating patterns.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from How to Marbleize Paper by Gabriele Grünebaum. Copyright © 1984 Gabriele Grünebaum. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Title Page,
Copyright Page,
Introduction,
PART I. - Basic Marbleizing Techniques,
1. The Paper Marbleizer,
2. Workplace, Tools and Materials,
3. The Marbleizing Size,
4. Colors and Ox Gall,
5. Paper,
6. Classic Marbleizing,
7. Oil-Color Marbleizing,
8. Marbleizing Fabrics,
9. Mistakes: Causes and Solutions,
PART II. - Recipes,
Fantasy Marbleized Paper,
Stone Marbleized Paper,
Swedish Marbleized Paper,
Wave Marbleized Paper,
Comb Marbleized Paper,
Snail Pattern Marbleized Paper,
Bouquet Marbleized Paper and Peacock Marbleized Paper,
Floral Pattern Marbleized Paper,
Veined Marbleized Paper,
Tiger Marbleized Paper,
Oil-Color Marbleized Paper,
Oil-Color Batik Marbleized Paper,
Supply Sources,
Metric Conversion Chart,