The art of paper marbling has been around for a long time. You sometimes see the covers of books or stationery decorated using this technique. On Make: Projects, Marcia Friedman shows how to create Japanese sumi ink marbling, a particular style of marbling which produces beautiful swirling patterns of black, white, and gray.

Suminagashi images from Flickr user juni xu

In the video below, a marbling artist demonstrates a more premeditated design by painting on water and then carefully laying down paper over it.

How-to: Japanese Sumi Ink Marbling

Watch Dale Dougherty right now to learn more about marbling paper, live on Maker Camp! (12pm PST)