The modern version of Traditional Paper Marbling involves floating water based (acrylic) paints on a thickened bath of water. This may sound simple but needless to say, as with many creative processes, it takes a bit of preparation.
You might have seen paper marbling demonstrations, where it looks very easy and natural – that’s because they have spent a while preparing!
If someone has pre-prepared the ingredients you may be able to dive in and begin marbling yourself. However, if you are new to marbling and want to set it up for yourself there are a few things to get ready….
Essential marbling preparation tips
In this post I will outline the ‘behind the scenes’ set up, but it is important to know that even if you follow the instructions to the letter, it still needs time to get it working just right. Experienced marblers may take a while to get a new bath and fresh paints ready to work with, and this forms part of the mental preparation for marbling.
Balance
The key is to get your paint mixes and the water bath all in balance with each other.
When people say they had no success with marbling it is invariably due to the imbalance of several key elements;
- The temperature and consistency of the bath
- The individual mixes of paint
- the way the different coloured paints react with each other.
Get ready to marble
Paper for marbling
I generally use 140 gsm cartridge paper, from Seawhites. Regular computer paper works fine but thicker is better.
Once you get going it is interesting to try different coloured papers, these really alter the final effects as they interact with the acrylic colours.
Paper with a rough finish works better than something smooth and shiny.
Experiment with different sorts of paper, you can also try marbling on other surfaces like fabric or wood.
Paper preparation
Alum
Your marbling paper needs a mordant on it in order to hold the paint. This is Aluminium Sulphate; it is also as a mordant for dyeing fabric as well as for preparing paper for marbling. It helps the paint to stick to the paper – if you don’t use it your results will be very pale. There are a number of craft suppliers selling it on line, e.g. George Weil
How to mix Alum solution
Alum comes as crystals, looking a bit like white sugar. Dilute 1tsp to half a pint of water, and sponge onto one side of the paper, making sure you wet the whole surface. Put a pencil mark on the reverse of the paper so you remember which side is treated.
You can use the prepared paper when its dry, or stack the damp alum-ed paper to use straight away, as long as it isn’t too wet when you use it.
Alum is a safe product but can dry your skin, so it’s best to wear gloves.
Prepare your marbling bath
The bath is a tray of thickened water on which you will float your colours.
The water bath needs to be thickened so the colours move slowly on it.
‘Size’ for thickening the bath
- Carragheen
Carragheen is seaweed used as a food thickener. This is the most traditional way to create a marbling bath.
Vegeset is the easiest way to buy this (www.vegeset.co.uk) from wholefood shops.
How to mix it
Put a teaspoon in a pan of water and bring to the boil, stirring it. Leave overnight to thicken, dilute further with water. Use at room temperature. After a few days it will go very runny, just like water, then it’s time to make a new batch.
Carragheen gives lovely clear patterns but I find it can be tricky to get the mix right so would recommend beginners starting out with Tylose powder which is pretty idiot proof!
2. Tylose powder
Tylose powder, (also known as CMC or Carboxymethyl cellulose) is also a food thickener, so very safe to use.
Tylose is a man-made substitute for Gum Tragacanth, it is usually used as an additive for Royal Icing to keep it a bit soft.
Buy it from www.classikool.com or other on-line suppliers
How to mix it
Put a teaspoon of tylose powder with about a litre of water in the blender and whizz till it has no lumps. Dilute further with water. You are aiming for the water to feel slippery between your fingers, but not too thick and gloopy.
I generally mix up a few litres, leave it to settle for a few hours so it goes clear, then decant it into the marbling bath a bit at a time, adding more water if needed. Once mixed it keeps for several days if it is cool. When it goes very watery chuck it away.
Marbling Trays
Use a plastic tray – something like a cat litter tray or the sort you get to put tomato plants in work well. It needs to be a bit bigger than your paper so you can move the paper around.
Get these from a garden centre or diy store.
Paints
Acrylic paints; try different makes, as these vary when used for marbling, generally I like ‘Ara’, but will have a go with anything – I tried decorators emulsion paint once but the colours were a bit dull.
Some colours work better than others, due to the pigments and how they float on water. If you already have some acrylics I suggest just give them a go before going to buy more especially for marbling.
How to mix marbling paint
Mix small amounts of paint with water to the consistency of single cream – test drops on your marbling bath to see how they float; add more water (or dispersant – see below) to adjust the amount they spread.
If they sink to the bottom of the bath make them a bit thinner with water and add some dispersant. (If everything skinks your bath may be too runny; add a bit more of the thicker tylose mix.)
In this picture the yellow went on first, then red, then black, and blue was added last.
The black was quite strong – it spread a lot, whereas the blue did not spread so much.
When you have mixed a few colours try them together – some will be ‘stronger’ than others and will push the other colours out of the way. Try using them in different sequences, ideally you want to use the ‘strongest’ last as there will be more paint on the bath so it needs to be stronger to move it around
Dispersant
This is an important additive that reduces the surface tension in the paint and enables it to spread on the surface of the size.
Warning; if you add too much dispersant the colour will push everything to the edges of the bath, so be careful!
An excellent dispersant is Fairy liquid or good quality liquid soap – add a drop to a cup of water and then add a few drops of the solution to the paint to make it spread on the bath. Use it on its own without paint to make white spots. (This is how I made the pebbles in the previous marbling post)
Acrylic flow release can also be used, you can buy this from art shops. Use it in the same way as liquid soap; a few drops diluted in water.
Getting your marbling colours working well together on the bath is a major part of getting ready, so it is worth taking your time with this part of the preparation. Once mixed you can store colours in sealed bottles for future use.
Droppers
Wooden Lolly sticks dipped in the runny paint make good droppers for single drops of colour. Coarse paint brushes will also hold paint and you can flick or tap them to make lots of drops. This photo includes a homemade brush made from the bristles out of a kitchen broom.
Tools for moving paint around on the bath
Wooden kebab sticks are good – you can drag the stick in different directions to pull the paint around.
Traditionally marbling combs are used to make patterns – some craft suppliers sell ready made ones and you can make your own too.
I made some from cardboard with kitchen brush bristles stuck to it, and also one from an old hairbrush – the plastic bristles came out in a line and I fixed them to a piece of wood.
Rinsing marbled paper
A plastic box of clean water is handy for rinsing the paper after marbling, too much size left on the paper makes it stick to things and takes longer to dry, so dip the newly marbled paper in clean water to rinse it off. The alum on the paper will mean the paint doesn’t wash off too.
Drying your marbled paper
Once you get started you will probably produce a lot of sheets of wet marbled paper. Consider your drying process before you start! I got a portable clothes dryer and clip the wet sheets on to it to dry. Protect the floor underneath with old newspapers and plastic as the papers will drip quite a bit.
Discover the satisfaction of flowing with your materials
When you get everything aligned the experience of paper marbling is totally absorbing. You will find you feel calm and centered as you work with the flowing paints on the water, gently manipulating them into patterns which have a satisfying natural internal structure.
It may take a while to get all this together but once you have gathered all your marbling equipment and materials, you will find it doesn’t take long to set up a marbling session for yourself, friends and family.
It is always a popular activity, and people of all ages find it very absorbing and even addictive.
2 thoughts on “Preparing for paper marbling; essential tips”
hi i need help please i have this marble painting kit first time the water not gobike jellly and paint was not sitting in top of the water and the 2 time used me carrageenan and less water and after 6 ti 7 hours put drops acrylic paint it and the water was like jelly and the paint stayed on top of the water but then it did spread out words to quck until it. just broke up any advice would be helpfull my email is
deebishop2011@hotmail.co.uk
Hi Dee
mixing the marbling base can be very tricky, you need to aim for something I describe as ‘slippery water’, that is quite fluid but it feels slippery between your fingers. Carrageenan is hard to use for beginners so I recommend using tylose powder. This is usually used as an additive to royal icing so you get it from cake decorating supppliers. Whizz a teaspoon of tylose with water in a liquidiser, leave it to settle for 10 mins, then add more water till it feels the right consistency.
Carrageenan (or vegeset) is more unpredictable, affected by temperature and humidity, and once mixed does not last as long as tylose. However it is the traditional marbling base and when you get it right it produces beautiful clear prints.