Technical Developments of EbruJust as the applications of marbled paper changed over time, so did the materials and techniques used in its production, as scientific developments had their effect on the products available to the marbling artist. Particularly in the last fifty years, much research has been done around not only the materials used in marbling, but also the ideal studio environment for working on marbling. The effects of heat, humidity and other environmental factors such as ground elevation have all been studied; consequently, these previously problematic variables are now more easily controlled by the artist. Scientific advances have also provided a wider array of art supplies to the marbler; while early marblers were limited to a very small selection of natural pigments, their modern counterparts have available to them a practically endless spectrum of colours and type of pigments.Some of the materials necessary for producing traditional marbling, such as gum tragacanth and ox-gall, are difficult to find or process. This is one likely explanation for the slow spread of paper marbling: for centuries people were unable to determine how to collect or prepare the materials necessary to the process. In the 20. century, and particularly since the 1960s, new materials have constantly been made available to marbling artists which have in turn had a powerful impact on the aesthetics of marbling, as new visual effects are made possible. These advances have also made the distinction between eastern (or traditional Turkish Ebru) and western marbled paper much clearer, as much of the difference is resultant of the materials used in production. The three major techniques for marbling which are employed today are the Japanese "suminagashi" technique, "Turkish ebrulama" technique and European marbling or marblizing technique. "Turkish ebrulama" is not only the most complicated and highly developed marbling technique, it is also the method from which the European marbling technique developed. Probably because of the complexity of the process and the difficulty in finding documented information about "ebru" and "ebrulama", most of the information in the western literature about the technique is incorrect or incomplete. A list of the basic materials used in "ebrulama": Trays: Most trays are made of zinc, galvanized steel or wood. They can be made to any size, but the most common is 17.5 x 25cm. or 35 x 50cm. Water: Water is used for preparing the size as well as pigments. Distilled water gives the best result because of the low percentage of calcium and ozone in it. Size: Gum Tragacanth is produced from astrgalus tragacantha, a plant indigenous to Anatolia, a region of Turkey. The principle feature of Gum Tragacanth is that by thickening the water, it keeps the pigments on the surface. Also given its transparent, slightly sticky nature, it performs the duty of a lacquer over the pigments. this is why Turkish marblings must be removed extremely carefully, and also why they are never hung up or rinsed. |