Paper marbling is a fun and incredibly easy way to create beautiful works of art. The print technique used captures a colorful image filled with the swirling types of patterns that certain stones, like marble, naturally feature. Each piece comes out totally unique and you don’t need any specific kind of preexisting artistic skill to make your own awesome looking marbled pictures. To top it all off, it’s relaxing and therapeutic to both do and watch. It’s definitely something you should try once in your life if you haven’t already done so yet!
The art’s practice is ancient and can be traced back centuries to Central Asia and Turkey, where it’s referred to as Turkish marbling and commonly called “ebru” in the country’s language. A large, shallow, rectangular tray is filled with water and paints are dripped onto the water’s surface.
The paints are treated with a few drops of ox-gall liquid, which is what gives them the ability to float on the water because it lowers their surface tension. An assortment of brushes, needles, and other pointed tools are then used to drip the paints onto the water and move them around. By gently manipulating the paints you can create all sorts of specific shapes, swirling patterns, spirals, and wildly spectacular marbled designs.
Once the painting part is complete, a large piece of paper is slowly and carefully laid over the water’s surface and the paint is then transferred onto the paper. After a short while, the paper is peeled up and upon its removal the image comes to life and the work of art is finally revealed.
To see how the art of Turkish marbling in done, check out this video. It was captured by Mike Powell as part of his travel blog when he visited Istanbul for three months. He ended up taking a class on it and filmed his teacher giving a demonstration on how to paint on water.
The man knows what he is doing as he goes about deliberately placing certain colors and drops of paint on the water. Then he moves a stick or needle across the surface and through the paints, which leaves behind a cool pattern. It’s oddly hypnotic to watch and when the paper is finally pulled up to reveal the painting, it’s like nothing you’d ever imagine it to be!
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