Discover how art of marbling is performed in this video!
1- Basin
As an art which is applied on the surface of water, first of all a basin is needed to put the water in. They can be made of aluminum, glass, plexiglass, plastic or any material that does not leak. The surface tensions of metal basins have better performance compared to the plastic ones during application. Therefore metal basins are preferred.
Basin size depends on the paper size that is going to be marbled. The dimensions of a basin should be half a centimeter bigger than the paper size. For example if a 35 x 50cm paper is going to be marbled, the basin should be in 35.5 x 50.5cm size.
When the paper contacts with water it will get swollen 2-3mm. (more in some type of the papers) and expand. Therefore this 0.5cm of gap is crucial in order to take the marbled paper out the basin comfortably.
The depth of the basin is 5-6cm. and its sides are finely finished or its side sheets are curled out to have a smooth edge so that they would not scratch the paper while it’s being grazed off the basin.
2- Thickeners
The water that ebru is going to be applied on is thickened. Thickeners used in marbling art are natural materials that have adhesiveness at the same time. The adhesiveness help the paints fix on the paper.
Kitre is a commonly used thickener which simply is dried sap of a plant called as geven from Astragalus family.
Irish Moss / Carageen Moss or known as red seaweed is another type of thickener.
Some other herbal thickeners used in food industry can also be alternative thickeners.
50-60gr of kitre is dissolved in a deep basin in 2 lt. of water and let sit for 24 hours in a cool and dry place. The swollen kitre that looks like small jellyfishes is torn into pieces with a blender and let sit for 24 hours more after adding 2lt. water. By the end of the second day 2 more liters of water is added and mixed thoroughly. It takes 48 hours more for the material to totally dissolve in water. In short it takes 4-5 days to dissolve kitre. The 6 litres mixture is bolted and transferred to a bigger basin and 2 more litres of water is added. Under normal temperature and humidity conditions dissolved kitre can be used within 15-20 days.
3- Ox gall
Ox gall is maybe the most important material of paper marbling art. It helps the paints spread on the surface without sinking at the bottom.
4- Paints
Pure pigment paints that do not dissolve in water are used in ebru. Granule paints are smashed with water and some ox gall is added before use. Smashing wets the pigment particles and ox gall decomposes them.
5- Brushes
Traditional rustic brushes are preferred in ebru. The brush is made of horse-tail hair, rose wood and fishing line.
6- Papers
Any type of paper that has absorption can be used for marbling. Glossy coated papers are not preferred since there won’t be any paint absorption. In order to extend the durability acid free papers are used.
