Are you always looking for new ideas to make art that you can hang in your home? Dipping marbles in paint and rolling them around in a box with paper taped to the bottom has been a staple as a children’s art project, but it may be time to think about it as a fun way to make abstract art for your home.
Here’s one I made by rolling the marbles from side to side only.
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The process of making marble art is very simple.
Your supplies:
- A box that is a few inches larger than your paper.
- Paper – I used watercolor paper for some and multimedia paper for others. I also used printer paper for some practice pieces.
- painters tape
- marbles
- paint – I tried a few different paints, acrylic artist paint, craft paint, and latex house paint. I watered them all down a little and I honestly can’t tell any between them with the way they rolled on or the way they dried.
Tape your paper to the bottom of the box.
Drop your marbles into a cup of slightly watered down paint. Roll them around to cover them completely.
Place the marbles around the paper. There is no right or wrong way to do this. I wore gloves to pick them up out of the paint.
Now all you have to do is tilt the box and let the marbles roll around. You can let them roll across as few or as many times as you want. I used printer paper for my first several just to get a feel for how much control you can have.
When you’re satisfied, take the tape off and set it aside to dry. When I made my first few, I wasn’t very impressed but after letting them dry and putting a mat around them I really changed my mind! I can see these as a small stand alone piece in a small space or as part of a grouping of art.
The pictures below show the paintings on paper only and how they look once they’re framed.
Sometimes you may only like part of the painting. Take a mat or cut a square out of a piece of cardboard or posterboard and move it around to find a section that you really like. The pictures below are examples of two that I did that to.
I like black and white art, but these can look great in colors too. Why not spend an afternoon rolling some marbles around with paint and make some art for your home.