Lesson 10 – Be a Craftsman!
Marbling
Many times you see fancy sheets of paper with beautiful designs or prints. Would you like to prepare your own fancy sheets of paper? Try the following idea. But remember to ask for your parents’ permission and help to do it. You may also try this in your classroom with the help of your teacher.
What you need:
A plastic bucket or a tub, water. kerosene or turpentine, plain sheets of white or coloured drawing paper, oil paints – blue, red, yellow, green etc. – a paintbrush, clips, etc.
What you do:
- Fill three-fourths of the bucket or tub with water.
- Add kerosene or turpentine to the paints that you have in separate tins. This will make the paints thinner. Do it with the help of an adult.
- Add a few drops of paints to the water, using the paintbrush. Stir the water gently with the brush. You will see the paints (colours) twirling around in water.
- Now put the plain drawing paper sheet on the coloured surface of water and press it lightly.
- Lift the sheet of paper carefully. You will see colourful shapes on the sheet.
- Use a clip to lift the sheet to avoid staining your fingers.
- Keep the sheet aside for a few moments to let it dry.
You can use your fancy paper sheets to make envelopes, greeting cards, or to make ‘paper-craft’ articles.
You must have noticed that the oil paints dissolve in turpentine or kerosene but not in water. They float on water. That is why we can use this technique to create fancy shapes on paper.
Marble is a kind of hard stone which is usually white with dark veins inside. Marble can be polished very well. This process is called ‘marbling” because the patterns created in this process look like the patterns in marble.