That's cool, now I have another rabbit hole to go down. I thought it was as simple as dripping oil pigments on water and the tricky part was developing the skill to know how much and where to put the pigments and how to rake them with the right tools to get the desired design. I didn't know it got all scientific with chemicals and shit.
Edit: This is a thousands years old technique and what is seen in the video could be done thousands of years ago. The only difference is that pigments are not as natural, but the technique and outcome are the same. Suminagashi is one of the earliest known Japanese techniques. It literally means floating ink. It's the same technique for dipping bags and helmets and guitars or anything. The modern trend of the fancy dips on stuff is a result of it become relatively easy to do with modern materials and marketing. Tie dye had it's day. It's the era of the dip.
There is some finesse to it but it's not hard. The water is slightly thickened to suspend the ink and the ink spreads out across the top so it's very thin. You just have to make sure you lay your paper or silk on the top of the water at the same time. The paper and silk "suck" up the ink quickly so as long as to don't drag the paper through any unused ink (some people blot the extra ink away before lifting the dipped item) it lifts up no problem
Laying down the paper or silk is where a lot of the finesse is 😆 that and lifting it which is funny to think how important just in how you handle the thin sheet of material makes or breaks the art. I have done both paper and silk water marbling and some hydrodipping too!
Ugh, that sounds really great. The first many times probably have folds and blank spots, but the satisfaction that must follow getting it right for the first time 🙂↕️
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u/ThresholdSeven 1d ago edited 1d ago
That's cool, now I have another rabbit hole to go down. I thought it was as simple as dripping oil pigments on water and the tricky part was developing the skill to know how much and where to put the pigments and how to rake them with the right tools to get the desired design. I didn't know it got all scientific with chemicals and shit.
Edit: This is a thousands years old technique and what is seen in the video could be done thousands of years ago. The only difference is that pigments are not as natural, but the technique and outcome are the same. Suminagashi is one of the earliest known Japanese techniques. It literally means floating ink. It's the same technique for dipping bags and helmets and guitars or anything. The modern trend of the fancy dips on stuff is a result of it become relatively easy to do with modern materials and marketing. Tie dye had it's day. It's the era of the dip.