Nonpareil part 2- Intermediate



In my opinion, this pattern may be in some ways easier than the pattern previously outlined. For one, more satisfying and pleasing results may be obtained. Furthermore, the pattern is also slightly easier to control. This method is also a good way of approximating the old combed patterns that you see in old books.

1- lay on the trough a base colour, usually red.
2- on this , lay droplets of black (K), blue ( B) and yellow( Y ), in a grid fashion, as shown below

Y B Y B Y B Y B

K Y K Y K Y K Y

Y B Y B Y B Y B

K Y K Y K Y K Y

( obviously, you can adjust the number of rows & columns to the size of your trough)

3- Stylus through the vertical columns, & comb across them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbVERceKg4s&feature=g-crec-u

=> obviously, you could use different colours from the above- Those colours are simply the most traditional.

This method of making nonpareils has long, orderly bands of colour, instead of the shorter, random stripes of the previous method. Whilst this produces a more symmetrical pattern, it may look a bit too mechanical, if you are not careful.

 If you substitute blue for green, you get a pattern known as the "old dutch"- However, I actually know of three methods of making a pattern by this moniker, and so, I have included it in a seperate post.

Nonpareil- Part 1- The basics



One of the real cliches of marbling, this pattern of marbled paper, sometimes called "combed" has been produced form the earliest times till the present day. It has been produced in almost any colour combination,  width of comb, and degree of skill since then.
 So, what is a nonapreil? Well, It is any form of marbled paper whose final step is a combing, and that combing must be preceeded by a previous combing , which is carried out at right angles to the final one. The key here is in the first combing, and it's direction.

The materials:

Size:
Nonapreils need a size which is thin, but not watery. It has to be thin, or else the colours cannot pass through the comb. Neither should it be watery, as the colours would shift about and misbehave when they are combed.

Colours:
Nonpareils traditionally have 4-5 colours in them, but equally traditional ones have only two ( see blue nonpareil)

Comb: The comb in question is usually one with  0.5 cm spacing, but smaller and larger ones have been made. Nonpareils made with a large comb look good on large books, and vice versa.

The basic process of a nonpareil is this:

1- drop on any number of colours ( 2-3 is good for the beginner)
2- make a git-gel ( see--) along the length of the trough [ on small troughs, you can omit this step; and skip to 3 ]
3- on this git gel, make another, but this time, along the width of the trough
4- pass the comb along the width of the trough.

The resultng pattern, in all it's glory, is the nonpareil. Now, it is often printed as it is, but you can add extra decoration to the pattern.....

1- curled nonpareil.
 simply make curls over the nonpareil

2- double combed-
Draw a rake over the nonpareil. Occasionaly done.

There is also another method, slightly more advanced, Which, in my opinion, produces a somehat more pleasing paper. - see

Combs for marbling

A pair of combs ( L and R), and a rake ( center)

A comb, as its name implies, is a series of wires, set at equal distances to each other, in a piece of pasteboard or wood, like a comb used for hair. A rake is essentially a comb in which the teeth are spaced more than an inch apart. The combs and rakes are essential for the making of some patterns.

There are several methods of making combs. Here is the method I use;

You would need a piece of cardboard, about the thickness used for book covers ( A) , & hairpins ( B)

after marking off the sections between the teeth , slot the hairpins into the piece of cardboard , along the markings, like so;

another view

Repeat the process along the length of the cardboard.



Then,making sureb that all the needles are alagined properly, and all protrude the same distance,  tape the structure with duct tape to secure it.

Introduction

Since life is a difficult and thorny path

Where toil is the portion of man

We all should endeavour while passing along

To make it as smooth as we can

(On title page of “the mysterious marbler”, one of the early books on marbling)

A great hinderance to marbler today is the lack of information. Aldough literature on the subject today is quite stupendous, There is not one single full-length text on the traditional process of marbling online today.The information on this subject is mainly dispersed in little snippets here and there.  The few manuals that do exist, are very outdated, often centuries old, and even they themselves are parts of larger works on bookbinding.

So , what is marbling?

In it's broadest sense, marbling is the process of decorating paper , cloth and  with a design produced by floating colours on a liquid.

It woud be perhaps of interest here to give a little history here.

It is agreed that the most primitive form of this art is a japanese craft called suminagashi , in which inks mixed with pine-resin are floated on water, and occasionaly swirled around to produce a design

However, a more direct ancestor to the process we are concerned with here originated somewehere in The Ottoman   empire. it later spread to Turkey, where it is known ( and still practiced ) as ebru. The principle remained the same, but the water was thickened with a substance called gum tragacanth. This allowed the colours to be manupulated into more complex designs. The inks were also replaced by gouaches or watercolours mixed with a dispersant ( usually ox-bile) .

The process above was used

The above process,  was used ineurope till the mid 19thc, where a Hugarain, Josef halfer, discovered that carrageenan produced superior results to the gum. The process has changed very little since, excepting the introduction of acrylic colours .
The acrylilc colours have enabled the production of marbled cloth viable for the first time, and the fact that they are waterproof. Unfortunately, acrylics cannot produce some types of marbled paper, so you win some, and lose some.

Enough already! let us start!!!