Marbled Paper

The art of Marbling paper is thought to have begun in China and Japan around 1000 CE. Eventually this art moved along the Silk Road into Persia (Iran) and later to Turkey around 1500 CE.

When the art of EBRU (cloud art) was discovered in Turkey by the Europeans around 1600 CE, it was taken up by european bookbinders, and became the most common artwork displayed in new books for well over 200 years.

Ebru or marbled paper was most commonly displayed in books as endpapers (inside the front and back covers of books). Original antique endpapers are now highly prized in antiquarian books and are added to the projected price of the book when it is up for sale.

For centuries, paper marbling masters worked in secrecy to maintain a shroud of mystery to prevent others from mastering the craft and going into business for themselves. Eventually in England, in 1853 a man named Charles Woolnough wrote a book called The Art of Marbling and greatly upset the artists for exposing their secrets.

In the 20th and 21st century, marbled paper designs are now most often used as greeting cards, wedding invitations and I have also seen them used on photo frames.

Picture source - Turkish ebru

Supplies:

Cardstock
Shaving Cream (plain white cream - no gels, no scents)
9 by 13 inch aluminmum foil pan
Tempera or oil paints, or food coloring
Paper towels
Toothpicks, combs, skewers

Squirt out a layer of shaving cream about one inch thick all over the bottom of the pan

Add water to the paints to make them more fluid.

Paint the top of the shaving cream with tempera or oil paints or Food coloring. You can mix paints or put one colour on top of another and swirl.

Using a toothpick, comb, or skewer, run the pointer through the color, creating swirls and other patterns in the shaving cream. Dont mix up too much or you will just get one large brown mess.

Carefully place the paper directly on top of the shaving cream. Use opposite corners to hold the paper. press down lightly and try to remove all air bubbles. Air bubbles leaves round blank areas where the original colours of the paper stock shows through. You want to pat the paper down gently so that the entire sheet comes into contact with the shaving cream. Then you pull it up gently again.

You can either wipe off the shaving cream immediately using a paper towel (a bit of a mess) or you can leave it on for a few hours and when it's dry, it is much easier to remove. The colours then become "fixed" to the paper.

Set the paper aside to dry. If it starts to bend or curl, you can either use a heavy book or iron it to straighten it out.

Picture Source - Making Marbled Paper

Instruction Source - Homeschool Art

You will need:
* Lots of old newspaper to protect your table
* A large tray with deep sides (we used a foil roasting tin)
* A large jug of cold water
* Some marbling paint or marbling ink in different colours (you can buy this in craft shops)
* Pieces of paper or card (small enough to fit in the tray)
* A pencil

Here's what to do:

First, pour water into the tray until it's 1-2cm deep.

Next, add some drops of paint to the water a few at a time.

Using the tip of the pencil, move the paint around the tray until all the colours mix round each other in a feathery pattern.

Choose a piece of paper or thin cardboard, which is small enough to fit into the tray.

Place your paper into the tray by rolling it down on to the surface of the water

Make sure the paper is completely flat, floating on the water. Do NOT let the paper go under the water.

Next, gently lift the far end of the paper and roll the paper back from the water.

You should see all the paint in the tray coming away with the paper

Leave your marbled paper lying flat on some newspaper until it's completely dry.

Source - Show ME UK

Marbled Paper

What You Need
Newspaper
Baking pan
Water
2 tablespoons white vinegar
Mortar and pestle
Six sticks of colored chalk (all different colors)
Six paper cups
Six tablespoons of cooking oil
Spoon
Half sheets of white paper
Paper towels

What to Do
Cover the kitchen counter with newspaper. Fill the pan with water, add the vinegar, and place the bowl in the middle of the newspaper.

Using the mortar and pestle, crush a piece of colored chalk to a fine powder, then pour into a paper cup. Repeat for all six pieces of chalk, using a different cup for each piece. Add a tablespoon of oil to each cup, stirring thoroughly with the spoon. Pour the contents of each paper cup into the bowl of water. The chalky colored oil will form large pools on the water's surface.

Gently lay a piece of paper on the water's surface for a moment, lift off, then set to dry on a sheet of newspaper for twenty-four hours. When the marbled paper dries, gently wipe off any surface chalk grains with a paper towel.

What happens
Swirling patterns of colored oil stick to the paper.

Why It Works
The molecules of chalk (calcium carbonate), vinegar (acetic acid), water, and the surface of the paper all chemically combine, causing a chemical bond that makes the swirling colors stick to the paper.

Source - Mad Scientist