Painting on water (aka paper marbling)

Craft & Design

MAKE subscriber RabLabit sent us a link to this video of an artist who “paints on water.” What he’s doing is actually paper marbling, a form of “aqueous surface design.” You’ve certainly seen marbled book or journal end-papers, for instance. Those pattens are created using this process.

The video is a little… meditative, but the results are lovely and it’s a process I’d never actually seen. It makes me want to try it. [Thanks, RabLabit!]

You can find more info on marbling on Galen Berry’s The Art of Marbling website.

More:
Driven to tears by sand painting

16 thoughts on “Painting on water (aka paper marbling)

  1. Shadyman says:

    I’ve seen something similar where they put a small ‘drawing’ onto cardstock before, but this is intense. I certainly wasn’t expecting the lightning-esque clouds in the background!

  2. Simon says:

    The music made me want to order a hot vindaloo and a couple of poppadums but yes, that is very impressive. Seeing what actually came out on the paper is very cool and very unexpected.

  3. Thomas says:

    I was watching some TV show and saw how a hunting gear maker applies camouflage patterns to rifles and shotguns using almost the same process.

    They had a tub of liquid with the rifle stock immersed in it. They pull the stock out of the liquid and the entire surface has the pattern.

  4. Yumna Arshad says:

    aoa.i also lved it..kindly send me the process
    im a student in punjab university lahore,doing bfa in painting..i xtremely  wanted  to learn it.plzzzzz n kindly help me.thnxx.Yumna Arshad

  5. Yumna Arshad says:

    asalam u allaikum.sir i loved dis wrk..this is vry beautiful wrk..i xtremely wantd to do dis..kindlyy help me to learn this type of work..wud b thankful to u.plzz
    em Yumna Arshad doing BFA in painting from Punjab University,pakistan lahore.
    waiting for your reply.

  6. illavazhagan .N says:

    can u pls tell that which type of paint is used in this morbling painting….
    waiting for replay….

    1. Leota says:

      I’m not sure what paint he used in the video, but I heard that tempera paint works.

  7. mallika says:

    pls say me what type of paint you are using in the vedio. and how to drag on the chat.

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

View more articles by Gareth Branwyn

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