The Progress of the Marbling Art Part 7

The production is entirely the same as that of comb marbles, but the teeth of the comb must be about 1/2 inch distant from each other and the comb must be 1/2 inch less in width than the trough so that it can be moved right and left at will, when the marble is drawn by this comb the latter is drawn back in such a way that the teeth cross the centre of the scales.

THE SNAIL MARBLE.

THE SNAIL MARBLE.

(SEE SPECIMEN PLATES.)

The production of this marble is very simple. The colors are thrown on as for comb-marble and are drawn by the stylus into wavy lines and then, one by one, by the aid of the stylus, snail forms are produced.

THE GRAY SNAIL MARBLE.

The manner of production is the same as that of the plain gray marble, with the exception that so much green is added till a desired tone is obtained. After this ground-color has been thrown on, the marble is drawn by the aid of the stylus into snails and then taken off.

THE COMMON GREENISH-GRAY SNAIL MARBLE.

To produce this the colors are thrown on in the following order, black, light-blue (two parts water, one part Oriental blue,) Indian yellow, pink, light red, gall water, and, finally, the body color, composed of one part black and two to three parts sprinkling water according as the demand is for a lighter or darker body color. Throw the colors on the same as in producing the grey marble, (see marbled edges) and when the ground color is thrown on draw the marble into snails and take off.

THE DARK BLUE SNAIL MARBLE.

To all the dark marbles, which should have an especially brilliant effect, and are adapted for light-colored bindings, there is always added one or two parts of a solution of sh.e.l.lac and ammonia to the body color, in addition to sprinkling water. To produce this marble take black, light brown, light blue, (one part Indigo, two parts white,) lemon yellow, gall water and the body-color, which consists of two parts Indigo, one part black, from one to two parts sprinkling water and the same quant.i.ty of sh.e.l.lac-ammonia solution. After everything is thrown on the snails are formed.

THE DARK-RED SNAIL-MARBLE.

This marble has a beautiful effect and is especially adapted for fine half bindings with light-colored leather backs and corners and end papers of the same pattern as the edges. To produce this the colors are thrown on in the following order, black, light red, pink, light gray, (four parts white, one part black,) gall water and the body color consisting of two parts of carmine lake, one part of black and two parts of sprinkling water and sh.e.l.lac-ammonia solution. After throwing on the ground color the snails are drawn.

THE GRAYISH-GREEN SNAIL-MARBLE.

To produce it the colors are thrown on in the following order, black, claret red (two parts carmine lake and one part of black well mixed,) pink (ten parts of white and one part of scarlet red) gall-water which forms the white veins, and, finally, the body color, which consists of one part of black, three parts of sprinkling-water and an addition of green according to what shade of green is desired.

GENERAL REMARKS UPON DRAWN MARBLES.

GENERAL REMARKS UPON DRAWN MARBLES.

All marbles that are drawn by the stylus or knitting-needle are, in their treatment, more or less similar to the comb-marble, therefore the way to produce them is similar to that described in the former article upon comb-marbles.

To produce a pretty coloring, it is unavoidable, to use those four colors which I have named in the former article on comb-marble.

If it is desired, to use more colors than the four named, greater perfection in marbling is essential and it takes a perfect practical marbler to achieve beautiful products with eight colors, but practice and a zealous heart will even overcome these difficulties. The l.u.s.tre of the colors is due to their combination, according to their power of spreading out and to their harmony.

Wall-paper will frequently show what beautiful and fine effects can be produced by three, or at the most four colors.

If the colors are separated by white, they develop a greater l.u.s.tre, while black employed in the same way is productive of a more sombre effect.

The separation of colors by white and black is most decidedly more profitable and effective, than a marble in which the different variegated colors immediately touch each other. It is therefore advisable always to take black as the ground-color, white will be produced without adding any coloring matter whatever by the drawing of the colors with the stylus.

Black is the ground-color, upon which all the rest, blue, yellow, red are thrown; it is understood, that they must expand in the proper proportion, to produce a clear marble.

The l.u.s.tre of the colors is mainly a result of white and black, which form, as it were, a frame about the other colors by their own durability.

The other colors, which we may add to the four nonpareil colors, are, different shades of red and yellow. A bottle is filled to one half its height with carmine-lake, then black is added until a very deep purple is obtained; another color is a powerful orange, which, if not on hand, can be produced by mixing red and yellow. To produce a beautiful combination use the following colors, black, light blue, orange, light yellow, purple and finally scarlet red, (a color which I have recently introduced under the name of safflower carmine) this combination of colors gives a surprisingly beautiful result. To produce the nonpareil (or comb) marble with eight colors, two more mixed colors are used, one of which serves as a shade to light blue, while the other enhances the l.u.s.tre of the lighter colors. To this end, pour a little dark-blue into a gla.s.s bottle and mix it with the same quant.i.ty of green, obtaining a dark bluish-green. As a second color mix green and white until the color is pale green. To produce a desirable effect with these eight colors we must observe the following order, black, light blue, dark bluish-green, orange, light yellow, purple, pale green and scarlet-red.

In this wise numberless variations and combinations can be obtained, but it should always be taken care, that the primary colors only receive shading tones of secondary or tertiary colors. The mode of throwing the colors on the size is always the same as I described it for nonpareil marbles namely; form a ribbon of black from 4 to 5 inches in width in the prescribed way and throw the other colors into the black and at both rims of it but so that they are situated within the black. The same colors which are on one rim must also be thrown upon the other rim in the most uniform way possible. The marble therefore, before it is drawn is similar to a ribbon which has in its centre the black stripe about 2 inches wide, and on each side, a border of different colors 1 to 1-1/4 inches wide.

The more colors are used for the drawn marble, the less of each color except black should be thrown on the size. Although the colors have been adapted to each other in regard to their power of expansion before using them, it is indispensable in producing these marbles with such a large number of colors to a.s.sist the expansion of one color or the other by a few drops of ox-gall.

It is necessary to see, that the second color should not too greatly be displaced by the third, the third by the fourth, etc., because the color, which is mostly displaced would not appear in the marble at all.

In producing peac.o.c.k marbles, I obtained most excellent results even without primary colors. They were not so bright and l.u.s.trous in their general color effect, but their most subdued tones were most pleasing to the eye.

To one of these marbles I used the colors in the following order; black, medium olive green, dark bluish-green, bronze or ochre yellow, dark blue and bright chrome yellow, (to obtain the olive, use the following mixture; 3 parts light orange, 1/2 part dark blue; bluish-green as described above; ochre yellow, 2 parts light chrome yellow, 1 part brown; blackish-blue, 2 parts dark-blue, 1 part black; light chrome yellow, 2 parts light orange, 2 parts white.)

Beautiful bouquet marbles are obtained from the following colors; blackish-green, 2 parts black, 1 part green; yellowish-green, 2 parts yellow, 1 part green; light-brown, dark bluish-green as above, scarlet-red and light ochre yellow. In this way many combinations of color can be obtained, and it is left to the judgment of the marbler to select colors and make the mixtures. Having succeeded in producing beautiful marbles with few colors, it will be easy for anyone to produce others with more colors.

MARBLED EDGES.

MARBLED EDGES.

(SEE SPECIMEN PLATES.)

Many of my colleagues are of the opinion, that marbled edges are inferior to drawn edges, but this is a great mistake, and here we are able to show in what directions the marbling art is able to develop to its full glory.

The field for marbled edges is so large and prolific in the variations of shade, that there are really no limits to its capabilities.