Marbling is the art of printing swirling patterns of various colours on paper or fabric. Marbling has been practiced for around 1000 years, with stellar examples present in ancient Japanese or Turkish texts and books. In Japan, this art is known as Suminagashi.
It is a very quick and easy activity which everyone can enjoy and is suitable for all abilities and ages. It is fun to play this game during the rainy season when one cannot go outside, and also work to keep your children busy when needed. However, this should be taken care that this is not a good activity for very young children because there lies a choking hazard in case they swallow it.
Things required –
1. Washable paints, since this project is messy.
2. Sketch paper, for the paper, to absorb the colour well, and to be heavy enough to be hanged for display.
3. Baking tray or a shoebox to keep for drying.
4. Scissors, to cut the paper.
5. Paper towels for drying and wiping.
The Process –
1.Setting up the paper
Place the paper on a surface. You can use a baking tray or you can use a shoebox. Any proper plane surface that can be lifted will do. It should have edges so that the marbles don’t fall off.
Place drops of your chosen paint across the paper. Use less paint for minimalism, or more paint for liveliness. However. Use fewer than five colours as more than that makes the painting look more greyish.
Moreover, use less paint in each drop. Using more paint takes more time to dry, and the marbles are harder to move around.
2.Adding the marbles
Now, put the marbles on the tray or the shoe box. Use as many marbles as you like, but keep it more than two to get more variation in your painting.
3. Start painting with the marbles
After that, move the marbles across the surface. Be picked up and moved around to create various patterns, or you can also shift the tray around the table. Keep repeating till it creates the design you like. Then let it dry overnight.
Congratulations, you have successfully created art that Jackson Pollock would be proud of. He follows the “drip and splash” painting method and recently, one of his paintings was sold for an astounding $58.4 million dollars. Even if you don’t make a million-dollar painting, I bet you will be proud of yourself when you put up this beautiful picture for display!
