Art of Paint Marbling

Free book for review from Netgalley! ~. Woah I wish I had had this book back during printmaking class when I was trying out marbling from online tutorials and interlibrary loan copies that weren’t nearly as thorough as this book. I got some of the steps right, but I missed out on so many things and this book would have answered ALL OF MY QUESTIONS.

Many people treat marbling like this great big secret art and will give you some of the basics... but not all the nitty gritty details to actually make good prints. Speaking as an artist and hobby bookbinder that kind of approach is very annoying— but this artist gives all the details and I am here for it!!

Needless to say once I have the space and materials I will try the process again—and I will definitely be using this book as a primary source of information. I feel like next time I might actually be successful.

Beautiful photos. Tools and equipment explained. Step by step guides. Projects to make w/ marbling at the end. Troubleshooting help. 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

If you’re at all interested in marbling, I highly recommend this book.

The Art of Paint Marbling is a comprehensive workshop tutorial course by Rene Eisenbart. Due out 9th March 2021 from Quarto on their Walter Foster imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback format.

Walter Foster books (familiar to generations of art students) are well made, instructive, and attractively priced. This book seems to be based around a marbling workshop and the instructions and tutorial sections including the techniques are well arranged, well explained, inspirational, and jaw-droppingly beautiful.

The book progresses from an introduction, including tools and supplies selection, some color theory, and beginning techniques, through specific patterns (freeform, combed, and advanced). There are some suggestions for further exploration, but the bulk of the book is given to very specific, well photographed tutorials for marbling paint on paper/fabric. Additional resources include a really useful short photographic troubleshooting guide with causes and how to avoid them in future, resource and suppliers list (aimed at readers in North America, but useful for readers elsewhere), and a glossary, but no index (at least not in the eARC provided for review).

This is a very useful and accessible tutorial guide and I recommend it highly for printmakers, artists, papercrafters, journalers, bookbinders quilters, and allied craftspeople. It would also be appropriate for kids with some adult help. Some supplies might need specialist suppliers. Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book is such a dessert. if you like a cake with Millefleur decoration on it, then this is just the right kind of decoration for you. Didnt realise that you could go all Jackson Pollock and make some free forms or go very organised and make whale tail, peacock patterns. Very inspiring.

4 stars

A nice resource for basic marbling tools, supplies, & designs. Very appealing photographs. I’ve come away inspired.

[What I liked:]

•The author clearly loves paper marbling, and her joy spills over into her writing, which makes the book a pleasant read.

•The pictures illustrate the how-to steps, as well as providing many colorful examples of the art that can be created with marbling.

•Thorough explanations of working with alum & carrageenan are provided. My forays into marbling have been with a living history friend, so we used ox bile & other traditional methods. A main reason I wanted to read this book was to learn about modern supplies & methods.

•Thorough descriptions of how to choose materials are provided, for both paper and fabric. I’ve never tried marbling on fabric surfaces before, so that was fun to learn about.

•The color & paint mixing charts & references are helpful! It would be cool if in a print copy of this book, those came as fold outs or laminated cards in the back of the book.

•Basic discussion of paint application methods is provided, including using a dropper, using a “wand” (straw bundle for splattering), along with detailed pictures of basic patterns: stones, swirls, French curl, & chevrons. There are also some really nice demonstrations of more complex patterns, such as “feather on a non-pareil”, that I haven’t tried before.

•There are some interesting pages towards the end of the book with ideas & tips for experimental marbling, such as on 3D objects, over the top of paintings, etc.

•I appreciate the inclusion of a source list (where to buy supplies) at the back of the book.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•For some of the how-to marbling design pages, it’s unclear from the picture which direction to move the tools in to get the desired effect. Having a companion resource of video clips would be very helpful.

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Art of Paint Marbling is a very thorough book explaining the equipment/supplies needed and tons of ideas for you to make. The photos are ample and beautiful.

This is a great guide to get started in paper marbling.

I really liked this book. I just need to go out and purchase the correct equipment. I love the step by step process pictures to show how to achieve different marbling techniques. I hope I produce some worthy pieces.

Wow! I just can’t wait to experiment with the paint marbling techniques which are wonderfully displayed in this book. The step by step guides to a variety of patterns and techniques are beautifully illustrated. Highly recommended to anyone who wishes to expand their artistic horizons.

I've long been on a mission to reclaim my creative spark and this book spoke of a more grown-up form of a technique I remember liking as a kid. And that 'grown up' bit would be the singular downside to this book: it does require some specialist ingredients (aluminium sulphate and carrageenan, one of which is caustic, so hmm). I would have liked a tiny section on how to try things out on a more casual basis, I think - in other words, a reminder of that technique I tried as a child!

Despite that holding me up from having a proper 'go', I was still impressed with the rest of the book. There's plenty of information on the use of the ingredients, all the tools and techniques you could bring in, and how to achieve different kinds of patterns.

The near-obligatory art book chapter on colour theory was impressive. Always a good reminder anyway, I loved that this one didn't just do the obvious colour wheel but instead used common paint colours, such as cobalt and burnt sienna, and showed some great mixing combinations. There was also a good discussion of the common terms, e.g. shades and tints, as well as advice on choosing a palette for your projects.

The how-tos walk you through the different stages clearly, with photos, but more than half the book is then given over to different pattern ideas, such as stone effect, combing (explaining the tools along the way), and combining different patterns. And everything comes with gorgeous pictures!
Some incredibly complicated-looking designs are shown to be simple - although not necessarily easy, practice will still be required! - to achieve.

I was fascinated by the idea of marbling paintings. That is, doing a light marble effect over an existing image. Or the reverse: painting over a marbled base. There's also mention of collage ideas, marbling cloth, and non-flat items.

The book ends with practicalities: troubleshooting advice, cleaning advice (very good to see this included!), and a glossary of terms.

Overall it's a very well-presented book that covers its subject clearly and well. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't give it a proper go without going out to buy additional materials, but I still enjoyed the visuals and the concept.

What an amazing book this is. colourful, informative and creative, it is just what one should start with when exploring the art of marbling. The instructions are step by step with all the areas covered such as equipment, mixing, colour and printing. This is followed by simple pattern formation and ways to achieve it, and then leading onto more extensive patterns and techniques.
This is a glorious book and really explores marbling and beyond..

Ever want to learn how to do paint marbling? Because this book is for you. It gives a list of the things that you need to have in order to do paint marbling. The best part is the illustrations and showing you what your painting will look like. This is an easy and gorgeous book about paint marbling.

I found this book fascinating and filled with creative ideas. The author covers the basic steps of paint marbling, tools, explanations of each step of the process, color basics and their affect with different surfaces, methods for floating the paint in preparation for marbling and an extensive description of different types of marbling patterns and the methods to achieve them. This was a very informative text and enjoyable to read.

The Art of Paint Marbling takes you through all the tools, techniques, and tips you need to create your own marbled artwork. Closely following the successful The Art of Paint Pouring and its follow-up, The Art of Paint Pouring: Swipe, Swirl & Spin, The Art of Paint Marbling features a similarly easy-to-follow format and appealing aesthetic.

I have been wanting to try this technique for quite a while. After reading the book I can't wait to get started on my own marbling. The book had clear instructions.

I was given this book by Walter Foster Publishing via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.

This book is an acrylic paint art instruction book. I had thought paint marbling was relatively simple. The author made it sound like there were a number of challenging aspects and skills that took some practice before you got good results. You also need specialized ingredients and specific paints in order to get the correct buoyancy in the thickened water. If you're ready to buy a completely new set up to try it out, this book seems to thoroughly cover paint marbling.

She talked about the equipment, materials, and ingredients you'll need, the basic steps, and step-by-step demonstrations on how to do different techniques to get different marbled effects. She started with the easiest techniques and then built on those to create more elaborate designs. She also talked about troubleshooting problems and how to fix them as well as how to use abstract marbling with multimedia art (watercolor, collage, etc.) I'd recommend this book to anyone seriously interested in trying out paint marbling.

I thought this was a very thorough book, which walked you through the process of marbling clearly and concisely, with a number of illustrative photographs.

Once the basics have been explained, including how to mix paint and how to take the prints, the book then goes into sections explaining how to get different effects with the paint. There was also a really useful section on how to fix things if it goes wrong - I made use of this quite a bit!

I thought this was a really good beginners guide to marbling and would recommend it to people wanted to give this technique a go.

An important book for the art of paint marbling
Many decades ago we marbled paper using wallpaper base, but the art of paint marbling that René Eisenbart presents in her book "The Art of Paint Marbling. Tips, techniques, and step-by-step instructions for creating colorful marbled art on paper" which was published by Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster is so much more. She states about it "The thrill of marbling is in the discovery and sometimes unpredictability of the process. Explore a few approaches to discover what you like, and you’ll soon amaze yourself with the gorgeous marbled paintings that you’ve created. Once you are set up and have learned the steps, the process is easy with immediate results—almost like magic. Be forewarned that marbling is seductive and can even be addictive! When you see what is possible, you’ll want to do it again and again, each time trying some new variation (p.4)".
The book starts with "The Five Steps to Marbling", presents free and combed patters, but also goes beyond the basics (e.g., Tiger Eye, Lace, or Marbled Collage), but Eisenbart also touches the topics of the cleanup after the work is done and gives details for troubleshooting. Furthermore she includes a source list and a list with marbling terms. The book is presented with a great design and especially the beginning artists will appreciate the detailed step-by-step instructions. I highly recommend the book to all those artists who are interesting in the art of marbling, may they be beginners or have already some knowledge about the art.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#TheArtOfPaintMarbling #NetGalley

I want to thank Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity of reading this book.
I bookbind as a hobby and I've always been curious about making my own marbled end pages, so I was excited to see this arc being available for request.
I think the book is very detailed and explains very precisely the materials you need, why they have to be x material, what makes the process have a higher chance of success. It goes from very basic content such as how to select and prepare the paper to use, a guide of how colours would look good together, to a step by step guide in how to create a marbling pattern using different tools. I found the book interesting and easy to understand, and I really enjoyed the experience of reading it.