Using the Marbling Paints

Most marblers nowadays use acrylic-based paints, for several reasons:  they are common and easy to find, they are more durable on paper than watercolors or gouaches, they work well on fabric, they are less messy and form sharper images than oils, and they are cheaper than most other kinds of paint.  Acrylics were not invented until the 1950's, so of course marblers used other kinds of paint up until then.  If you are interested in historical marbling, or matching antique bookbindings precisely and authentically, you might prefer to use the kinds of paints available in older times; but for most modern purposes, acrylics are the best choice, and that is the only kind of marbling paints that we use or sell.

People often ask how long marbling paints will last in the jars, or how durable they will be on the paper, but there is no precise answer to that.  Paints, in any art form, are made from extremely disparate pigments and ingredients, and no two act the same way.  We wish they would, that would make things much easier, but no, they never have or will.  Some are made from chemicals, with long names like dioxazine, quinacridone, and phthalocyanine.  Some are made from minerals like mica or lapis.  Some are from metals, like chrome green, titanium white, iron oxide red, cadmium orange, or cobalt blue... but we don't sell the cadmiums or cobalts since they can be toxic.  Some pigments are just ground up dirt, like the umbers and sienas.  Some are from plants, like indigo; and some are even from animals, such as bone black, or purple from sea snails, or red made from smashed cochineal bugs (but we don't sell any of those, either). 

So because of all that, each color has its own personality, and you just have to learn by working with them how each one behaves, what it will do and won't do -- but that can be kind of fun!  Some are opaque, some are transparent.  Some are heavier than others, like the metal based ones.  Some spread out more than others when used for marbling. 

As for how long they will last, that can depend on many things.  Some will last for years, but some may change with age.  A few may get smelly after some time, but can still be used.  Some may get grainy or gritty, but that might be considered attractive for certain purposes.  Some can cake on the bottom of the jar after time, but stirring them well should remedy that.  And some might collect and grow mold in the jar if they are left open for hours -- so never leave your main jars of paint open for long, they will collect mold and bacteria from the air..

Before you start your marbling session, you will need to get several small empty jars to work out of -- baby food jars work well.  Don't ever work out of your full jars of paint, dipping your brushes in and out of them -- you will get way too much paint on your brush, which will produce large drops of paint which will sink to the bottom of your tray; and also, that will expose your paints to too much to bacteria if they are left open a long time.  So just pour out as much paint as you think you will use during your marbling session into another jar, and work out of those jars -- just a quarter to a half inch of each color.  Add your gall into it (never into your full jar of paint, in case you get too much).  After you dip your brush in the paint, knock most of the paint back into the jar, so that the brush is not dripping at all, then tap the top of the brush hard with your finger over the tray; this will produce a spray of small dots of paint which will float on your size much better than large drops will.   Always remember:  small drops will float, large drops will sink.

Most colors require gall in them to make them spread properly -- you can read more about the gall here.