Jump to content

Marbleizing Liquid


Recommended Posts

In the newest issue of Pottery Making Illustrated, the article "Tips from the Pros - The Lustrous Surfaces of Barbara Schwartz", Barbara often referred to the marbleizing technique she

used with lusters. She called for a Marbleizing Liquid, "a low-strength solvent that's used to break up the surface tension of unfired gold luster into

a network of fine multi-coloed webbing." She included photos of the marble-ization. I did a google search and was unable to find the liquid. I could only find information using rubbing alcohol. Unless I totally missed it in the article does anyone know what the marbleizing liquid is?

 

Kind regards,

Juli

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the newest issue of Pottery Making Illustrated, the article "Tips from the Pros - The Lustrous Surfaces of Barbara Schwartz", Barbara often referred to the marbleizing technique she

used with lusters. She called for a Marbleizing Liquid, "a low-strength solvent that's used to break up the surface tension of unfired gold luster into

a network of fine multi-coloed webbing." She included photos of the marble-ization. I did a google search and was unable to find the liquid. I could only find information using rubbing alcohol. Unless I totally missed it in the article does anyone know what the marbleizing liquid is?

 

Kind regards,

Juli

 

 

Hello Juli

Marbelizing fluid is the name given to a liquid that is applied over an unfired coat of lustre or gold to crackle the lustre surface. I have made a small .pdf of the relevant detailed information on marbelizing fluid from Heather Tailor's book Lustre for China Painters and Potters. Unfortunately this book is now out of print but can sometimes be picked up on Ebay.

 

As to marbelizing fluid being a solvent, I am not sure about that. I have read during my research on lustres that liquid Gum Arabic can be used for this effect. This would make sense as too much Gum Arabic in water based mediums for China paint causes the China paint to crawl and this is what the lustre does during the firing when the marbelizing fluid has been applied on top of the lustre. Also if the marbelizing fluid were solvent based it would cause problems in application over the solvent based lustre. However I can't find the reference for this at the moment. Windsor and Newton have a liquid Gum Arabic. If you are interested in trying this technique and if you can't find any marbelizing fluid I would suggest that you have a play with different strengths of Gum Arabic as this would give you different crackle, veining patterns. Gum Arabic can be diluted with water. Click on the attachment below to view the .pdf.

 

Regards

Johanna

 

Marbelizing liquid.pdf

Marbelizing liquid.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Johanna,

Thanks for taking the time and effort to look into this! The information I quoted came from the article in the newest issue of Pottery Making Illustrated, the article "Tips from the Pros - The Lustrous Surfaces of Barbara Schwartz. It was an interesting article and I wanted to further understand the process Barbara was writing about. I thought the marbelizing fluid was something commonly used.

Kind regards,

Juli

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Johanna,

Thanks for taking the time and effort to look into this! The information I quoted came from the article in the newest issue of Pottery Making Illustrated, the article "Tips from the Pros - The Lustrous Surfaces of Barbara Schwartz. It was an interesting article and I wanted to further understand the process Barbara was writing about. I thought the marbelizing fluid was something commonly used.

Kind regards,

Juli

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.