Suminagashi Marbling (Floating Ink on Water)
Suminagashi is the ancient Japanese technique of painting on water to create marbleized effects on paper. Literally, it means “ink-floating”, which is in reference to the Sumi-e inks used in the technique.
A shallow tray is filled with water, and various kinds of ink or paint colors are carefully applied to the surface with an ink brush, and repeated until the surface of the water is covered with concentric rings.The floating colors are then carefully manipulated either by blowing on them directly or through a straw, fanning the colors, or carefully using a human hair to stir the colors. In the 19th century, Tokutaro Yagi, the Kyoto master of Japanese marbling (suminagashi), developed a method that uses a split piece bamboo to gently stir the colors, resulting in concentric spiral designs. A sheet of washi paper is then carefully laid onto the water surface to capture the floating design. The paper, which is often made of kozo (paper mulberry) must be strong enough to withstand being immersed in water without tearing.
I discovered suminagashi a few years after I began marbling in acrylics, and I find this ink on water method to be a delicate, meditative way to marble rice papers. After the marbled papers are dry, I often glue them to a heftier piece of paper and then proceed to develop subject matter using acrylic paints.
A shallow tray is filled with water, and various kinds of ink or paint colors are carefully applied to the surface with an ink brush, and repeated until the surface of the water is covered with concentric rings.The floating colors are then carefully manipulated either by blowing on them directly or through a straw, fanning the colors, or carefully using a human hair to stir the colors. In the 19th century, Tokutaro Yagi, the Kyoto master of Japanese marbling (suminagashi), developed a method that uses a split piece bamboo to gently stir the colors, resulting in concentric spiral designs. A sheet of washi paper is then carefully laid onto the water surface to capture the floating design. The paper, which is often made of kozo (paper mulberry) must be strong enough to withstand being immersed in water without tearing.
I discovered suminagashi a few years after I began marbling in acrylics, and I find this ink on water method to be a delicate, meditative way to marble rice papers. After the marbled papers are dry, I often glue them to a heftier piece of paper and then proceed to develop subject matter using acrylic paints.
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