All things to do with Paper Marbling

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What is Paper Marbling?

Patterns

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Material

Water - should be soft and free of impurities.
Carrageenan powder - This is the ingredient used for making the marbling size. It can be obtained from a marbling supplier.
Food manufacturers are another source. They used it to stablise ice-creams and puddings.

Add 1 tablespoon of carrageenan to every 4 cups of water.
Colours - use marbling colours which are available from marbling suppliers. I use artists' water colours or gouache (eg those from Talens, Winsor and Newton) available from art shops.
Ox Gall - this is from the gall bladder of a bovine. Ox-gall breaks the surface tension of the size, allowing the colour to spread. Prepared ox gall for marbling is available from marbling suppliers. I use ox-gall from the art shop.
Alum - which can be any of the following three - aluminium sulphate, potassium aluminium sulphate or ammonium aluminium sulphate. This is available at a chemical store.The alum acts as a mordant to fix the colours to the paper. Add 1 tablespoon full of alum to 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve completely and allow to cool.
Paper - A4 sheets of paper - cartridge pad paper is a good start for beginners. As you get more competent you may like to try larger paper with a weight of about 128gsm. The surface of the paper must NOT be glossy or coated otherwise the mordant and colours will not take. The paper must be able to withstand being wet twice, once when the alum is applied and again when the patterned paper is rinsed to remove the excess size and colours.

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