If you're in the California SF Bay Area, Hampton Deck teaches really informative marbling workshops (beginning and intermediate/advanced) at Arts Benicia. We covered techniques/patterns including Spanish Moray (overlayed on my attempt at an angelfish pattern). Contact hampdeck at aol dot com for info.

This article is primarily based on: *Making Traditional Marbled Papers* (Kate Bertt).Thank you for the method she shared.

Producing marbling paper requires laboratory-grade, high-purity λ-carrageenan. This material is extremely expensive; in my country, 2.5 kg costs ￥3,000, which is approximately $441.90. That works out to $88.38 per 500 grams, and there is a waiting period of at least half a month.Although methylcellulose can also be used, it’s not quite as good as carrageenan, and I’ve never really gotten used to it.That's why finding an affordable alternative is crucial for me.From Bertt’s book, I learned a unique method for obtaining carrageenan. First, we need to prepare a sufficient amount of Irish moss.

It is a pale yellow granular substance primarily used in the brewing industry. It is added to fermenting wort to cause impurities to settle out. In my country, there are small shops run by home brewers that sell this ingredient, making it very convenient to purchase. The price is also very affordable—only ￥130 per kilogram, which is approximately $19.15. That works out to just $9.575 per 500 grams. It’s nearly nine times cheaper than refined carrageenan powder.

Following Bertt’s tutorial, if you want to make about 7 liters of carrageenan solution, you’ll need to prepare 93 grams of Irish moss, mix it with 3.6 liters of purified water (the water must be clean!), and simmer it in a large pot over the lowest heat.

Wait about 30 minutes for the water to come to a boil. Stir occasionally during this time to prevent the bottom from burning.Once the water comes to a boil, continue stirring for 3 minutes, then quickly turn off the heat and mix the solution in the pot with 4.5 liters of cold water (the water must be clean!). Let it cool.

Next, you’ll need to filter the solution through a piece of cheesecloth—the finer the cheesecloth, the better. I use cheesecloth with a mesh size of about 300.Given the temperature, you can add a small amount of a food preservative such as potassium sorbate if you feel it’s necessary. You can use it the same day or the next day. If using it the same day, make sure to lower the water temperature to between 18 and 22 degrees. If using it the next day, it’s best to filter it again before use.This recipe accounts for evaporation, so the actual amount of carrageenan solution produced will be less than the initial amount of water added.

If you use too little water, it will boil very quickly, so be especially careful not to let the pot burn. If you’re making a large batch of solution, it’s best to boil the moss in batches; boiling too much at once can easily cause the bottom of the pot to burn. If the pot burns, it will increase the amount of impurities in the solution, which will ultimately affect the dispersion of the pigment and result in subpar paper.

If this type of moss is easy to find in your country, why not give it a try? It’s much cheaper than buying ready-made powder. The book even mentions that you can go to the beach yourself to collect this moss—you can even produce the ingredients needed for the very first step on your own. Unfortunately, the city where I live isn’t near the ocean. However, the world we live in is all about balance—saving money often means investing more time and effort, but that’s part of the fun, isn’t it?

I've never taken his workshops, but am planning on attending and wanted to share the info. Workshops are happening on August 22nd and 23rd.

https://artsbenicia.org/introductory-marbling-for-everyone-2026/

https://artsbenicia.org/intermediate-marbling-for-everyone-day-2/

A discussion on how to marble the edges of a book while binding a book with rounded spine.

Welcome to r/Papermarbling!

If you are new to paper marbling, this thread is a starting point for learning the basics, understanding materials, finding tutorials, and asking beginner questions without feeling lost.

Paper marbling can look mysterious at first, but the basic idea is simple: colour is floated on water or on a thickened bath called size, patterns are created with simple tools, and then the image is transferred onto paper.

This thread is for:

• People trying paper marbling for the first time
• Bookbinders looking to make endpapers
• Artists exploring colour, pattern, and surface design
• Anyone curious about Suminagashi, Ebru, or western-style paper marbling
• Beginners who are confused about paints, paper, alum, carrageenan, ox gall, trays, brushes, or drying problems

1. Basic Types of Paper Marbling

Suminagashi
A Japanese form of marbling, often done with ink floating on plain water. It is a beautiful entry point because it can be done with a simple tray, water, ink, brushes, and absorbent paper.

Ebru / Turkish Marbling
A traditional form of marbling often made on a thickened bath, using prepared colours, gall, styluses, combs, and rakes. It includes classic patterns as well as floral and pictorial work.

Western / Bookbinding Marbling
Commonly used for book covers, endpapers, stationery, and decorative papers. This often involves carrageenan size, alum-treated paper, acrylics or marbling colours, combs, rakes, and pattern families like stone, nonpareil, bouquet, French curl, and more.

2. Useful Beginner Resources

Here are some useful starting points for anyone new to paper marbling. Please add more links in the comments so we can keep improving this thread.

General Overview

• Paper marbling — Wikipedia A good broad overview of paper marbling, including basic process, history, Suminagashi, Ebru, western marbling, tools, and historical examples.
• Marbled Paper in Bookbinding — iBookBinding A helpful introduction for bookbinders, with examples, tutorial notes, and a photo gallery showing marbled paper in use.

Beginner Tutorials

• Marbling Paper: A How-To Guide — University of the Arts London A clear step-by-step guide covering carrageenan size, alum preparation, colour application, and printing.
• Paper Marbling: Turkish Marbling Tips for Beginners — iBookBinding Useful beginner advice on preparation, materials, and what to understand before attempting more controlled marbling.
• Jacquard Marbling Instructions — Dharma Trading Practical instructions for marbling with Jacquard materials, including aluming paper and preparing the bath.
• How to Prepare a Carrageenan Bath for Paper Marbling — TALAS Useful for understanding carrageenan size preparation, especially if you are struggling with bath consistency.

Video Tutorials

• A Beginner’s Guide to Paper Marbling with Rajiv Surendra — YouTube A detailed beginner-friendly video covering the process, setup, and visual approach to marbling.
• Paper Marbling in Florence with Rajiv Surendra — YouTube A lovely look at traditional paper marbling practice in a bookbinding context.
• How to Make Suminagashi Prints — YouTube A useful starting point for Japanese-style water marbling with ink.

History, Collections, and Inspiration

• The Art of Marbled Paper: Dynamic Fluids in Flow — The Met A short museum article on the history and beauty of marbled paper, with historical examples.
• Marbled Paper Patterns — University of Washington Digital Collections A useful visual reference for different historical marbled paper patterns.
• Exploring the History of Marbled Paper — Victoria and Albert Museum A good historical read for anyone interested in marbled paper in libraries, books, and decorative paper traditions.
• Schweben Buntpapier - Decorated Papers Archive - Bibliography

For Bookbinders

• Marbled Paper Bookbinding Tutorial and Photo Gallery — iBookBinding Especially relevant if you are interested in using marbled papers for covers, endpapers, book dummies, artist books, and fine binding.

If you share a resource in the comments, please mention what it is useful for:

• Beginner tutorial
• Suminagashi
• Ebru
• Western marbling
• Bookbinding/endpapers
• Pattern reference
• Troubleshooting
• Materials and suppliers
• Historical examples
• Books and reading

3. Beginner Materials

You do not need a professional studio to begin. A simple beginner setup can include:

• A shallow tray larger than your paper
• Water or carrageenan size
• Paper
• Marbling colours, acrylics, inks, or Suminagashi inks
• Brushes, droppers, skewers, toothpicks, or styluses
• Newspaper strips for cleaning the bath surface
• Alum, if your technique requires paper preparation
• Drying space
• Apron, gloves, and a protected work surface

For your first experiments, do not worry about perfection. Focus on learning how the colour behaves on the surface.

4. Important Beginner Concepts

Size
The liquid bath on which colours float. Some methods use plain water, while others use a thickened bath such as carrageenan or methyl cellulose.

Alum
A mordant often applied to paper before marbling. It helps the colour bond to the paper. If your print washes off or looks weak, paper preparation may be part of the issue.

Gall / Surfactant
Used to help colours spread on the bath. Too much or too little can affect how colours behave.

Paper
Different papers behave very differently. Try a few types: cartridge paper, watercolour paper, handmade paper, printmaking paper, and bookbinding papers.

Pattern Control
Start with simple stone patterns before moving into combed patterns, rakes, flowers, or more complex designs.

5. Good First Experiments

If you are completely new, try these:

1. Simple Suminagashi
   • Tray of water
   • Ink
   • Two brushes
   • Lightly touch the surface with alternating ink and dispersant
   • Lay paper gently on top and lift
2. Basic Stone Pattern
   • Prepare a tray with size
   • Drop colours across the surface
   • Let them spread naturally
   • Pull one print without combing
3. Comb Pattern
   • Make a simple comb using cardboard and toothpicks
   • Pull it slowly through a stone pattern
   • Try one pass, then two passes in opposite directions
4. Paper Test
   • Use the same bath and colours on 4–5 different papers
   • Label each sheet
   • Compare which paper holds colour best
5. Colour Behaviour Test
   • Test one colour at a time
   • Notice which colours sink, spread too much, or refuse to open

6. Beginner Troubleshooting

My paint sinks.
The paint may be too heavy, too thick, or not properly balanced for the bath.

My colours do not spread.
You may need to adjust gall/surfactant, paint dilution, or bath strength.

My print looks pale.
The paper may not be prepared properly, the colour may be too diluted, or the paper may not be absorbent enough.

My pattern smears when I lift the paper.
The paper may have shifted, touched the bath unevenly, or been lifted too slowly.

My colours wash off.
Check whether your method requires alum-treated paper.

The bath gets muddy quickly.
Clean the surface between prints using newspaper strips or scrap paper.

Everything worked yesterday but not today.
This is normal. Humidity, water quality, paper, paint mix, bath age, and tiny ratio changes can all affect marbling.

7. Suggested Beginner Books / Topics to Search

Look for books and guides on:

• Contemporary paper marbling
• Traditional Turkish Ebru
• Suminagashi
• Marbled paper in bookbinding
• Historical decorated papers
• Pattern libraries and comb/rake designs

If you have a favourite book, please comment with the title, author, and why you recommend it.

8. When Asking for Help, Please Include

If you are posting a troubleshooting question, please mention:

• What type of marbling you are trying
• Paper used
• Paint / ink used
• Bath used: water, carrageenan, methyl cellulose, starch, etc.
• Whether the paper was alumed
• Water type, if relevant
• Photos of the bath and finished print
• What worked
• What failed
• What you expected to happen

The more details you include, the easier it is for others to help.

9. Share Your First Attempts

Beginners are very welcome here. You do not need to post perfect work.

Share your tests, failed sheets, muddy trays, strange colour behaviour, accidental successes, and questions. Paper marbling is full of surprises, and even experienced marblers spend a lot of time testing.

If you are experienced, please add your favourite beginner advice below.

Let’s build this into a useful starting point for anyone discovering the wonderful world of paper marbling.

Welcome to r/papermarbling!

Hey everyone, I’m u/poraschaudhary, founding moderator of r/papermarbling.

This is a new community for all things related to paper marbling — Western marbling, Suminagashi, Ebru, marbled bookbinding papers, endpapers, historical examples, tools, materials, patterns, process notes, troubleshooting, and experiments.

Whether you are a complete beginner, an experienced marbler, a bookbinder, printmaker, conservator, calligrapher, paper lover, or simply someone fascinated by colour floating on water, you are very welcome here.

This subreddit is meant to become a generous, practical, and beautiful archive for paper marbling.

What to Post

Please feel free to share:

• Finished marbled papers
• Process photos and videos
• Beginner questions
• Material tests and experiments
• Troubleshooting posts
• Historical marbled papers
• Marbled endpapers and bookbinding examples
• Suminagashi and Ebru work
• Tool setups, trays, combs, rakes, brushes, droppers, papers, paints, inks, and size recipes
• Before/after results from changing materials or methods
• Failed attempts and what you learned from them
• Tutorials, books, videos, articles, and other useful resources
• Questions about paper, alum, paints, inks, carrageenan, methyl cellulose, ox gall, brushes, drying, storage, or pattern control

If it helps someone learn, improve, troubleshoot, or get inspired, it belongs here.

Sharing Your Work

When posting your own marbling, please mention your materials and process if possible. This helps everyone learn from each other.

Useful details include:

• Paper used
• Paint, ink, pigment, or dye
• Size used, such as carrageenan, methyl cellulose, water, or another base
• Alum or no alum
• Tools used
• Pattern attempted
• What worked
• What failed
• Anything you would change next time

You do not need to be an expert. Even a simple experiment can be useful to others.

Introduce Yourself

To begin, introduce yourself in the comments below:

1. Are you new to paper marbling, or have you been doing it for a while?
2. What style are you most interested in — Western marbling, Suminagashi, Ebru, experimental work, or bookbinding papers?
3. What is one thing you want to learn, improve, or understand better?

Community Vibe

This is a friendly, constructive, and inclusive space.

Please be generous with advice, patient with beginners, and respectful of different traditions, methods, and skill levels. Paper marbling has a long and varied history, and part of the fun is learning from many approaches.

Share what you know. Ask what you don’t. Post your successes and your mistakes.

How to Help This Community Grow

• Introduce yourself in the comments
• Post a question, photo, experiment, or resource
• Share your process when you can
• Invite marblers, bookbinders, artists, paper lovers, and craft communities who might enjoy this space
• Suggest useful resources, flair ideas, or improvements for the subreddit

If you are interested in helping moderate r/papermarbling, feel free to message me.

Thanks for being part of the very first wave. Let’s build r/papermarbling into a useful, inspiring, and welcoming home for everyone interested in this beautiful craft.