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Drift and Mottled Marble
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Tools & Materials:
Drift Marble is a term applied to a certain class of marbles that are vein-less. The mineral colors of the marble flow in drifts. Some marbles don't appear to have much directional movement to the drifts, these are referred to as Mottled Marbles.
As a faux finish the drift and mottled marbles are often done as fantasy marbles, meaning that they are not done as exact replicas of any particular marble. Drift marbles can be done in a variety of colors which allows for a lot of flexibility and makes them a versatile technique for many situations.
Drift Marbles since they are without veins are a good marble for the faux finisher who hasn't mastered the art of veining. Drift Marbles are easy to do in one layer which makes them a fast marble to paint.
Tools Needed:
Generic marbleizing tools are used for doing Drift Marble: **Turkey feathers, various and diverse pieces of sea sponge, a softening brush, plastic, rags, synthetic sponges, wool rollers, and sponge rollers.
** Note: The difference between Turkey and Goose feathers. Goose feathers come to a pointed tip - this tip is used for veining. Turkey feathers do not come to a pointed tip, you use the sides of these feathers for creating drifts of color.
Base Coat:
You can do Drift and Mottled Marble in either latex or oil paint/glaze. If you choose to do them in latex you will not be able to open up the drifts by "cissing" the paint which is done by spattering mineral spirits onto the wet drifts, then softly blotting them or softening them with a badger softener. I have never come up with a good method of cissing a latex paint. The alternative to cissing if using latex paint is to use a synthetic sponge and/or one of the sponge rollers that are available today (use the sponge roller on larger wall areas to speed things up). I will below discuss the making of our sample Drift Marble here in latex paint and glaze.
Base coat color
Base Coat
A latex satin sheen paint works well for the base coat. For our sample Drift Marble start with a base coat in the color above.
Glaze Colors
For my latex Drift Marble I use satin latex paint and a latex glaze. Sherwin Williams Super Paint and Illusions glaze works fine.
The glaze/paint colors are listed below. The glaze mix should start at 1 part latex paint and 4 parts Illusions glaze, adjust from there as desired.
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Click here to see Universal Surface Preparation Rules:
Technique:
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Creating Drifts of Mineral Color
All marbleizing will call upon your ability to create drifts of color.
Break up larger areas into "pieces" of marble. If you are doing a large area use 1/8" masking tape to create marble slabs which will be separated with grout lines of your base coat color.
Alternate the direction of the drift by reversing it on every piece you do. The drifts will as a rule flow in a 45 ish degree slant. See below for drift and how to alternate.
Create Your Drifts
The drifts are created using different pieces of sea sponge and blotting with crumpled plastic, soften with a synthetic badger softener here and there, and add more sponging etc... over the top of the softened background. Work in slanting drift angles of approximately 45 degrees. Use the side of the turkey feather and dance it around a bit and soften - add a bit of sponging here and there as desired.
To get the open crater like fossil patterns into your marble, use a synthetic sponge here and there. Soften a bit here and there, but leave areas un-softened also. Use all three colors with the above tools and slowly your marble will take form.
Using the Double Roller and Sponge Roller
On large areas you can quickly do a good drift marble by using the dual roller technique to create a background. Soften it here and there by blotting with a lambswool pad. Try to work in a 45 degree angle to get the flow of the drift marble.
Once you have a suitable background go over the top with a sponge roller with one or two of your colors in a 45 degree angle. Soften here and there as desired with either a lambswool pad blotting or a synthetic badger softener (or a bit of both).
You can use the dual roller and sponge roller on smaller pieces of drift marble too if you like. Do a bit with the dual roller and parts with the sea sponge and plastic blotting as described above. Mix it up. Keep it random, soften here and there, keep a drift angle going on the while , dance the turkey feather here and there , re-soften etc.... work at it until you have a good drift marble piece. Then move on to the next piece (but change your drift angle on this new piece to the opposite direction) and repeat.
Creating Drift Layers is How You "Build Up" Most Marbles
This drift creating procedure using these very few and basic tools will actually allow you to create a wide variety of marble effects. I use this procedure with oil glaze, and let it dry, isolate the layer with a wash coat of shellac (1 part shellac and 4 - 6 parts denatured alcohol), then do another layer over the top. By layering you will add depth to a marble. One of the keys to doing good marble is to do two (or more if you are not pressured by budgetary constraints) layers. In fact, a good generic method of marbleizing is to create three or four layers of depth. The first layer is the base coat which you leave "open" in spots. The second layer would have the appropriate color and type of drifts for the the marble you are imitating - leaving open areas where the base coat shows through. The third layer is another slightly different drift layer - this one you could "ciss" to open up by spattering paint thinner on it then blotting. A fourth layer could by a veining layer only where you work solely on the veins. Good marbleizing is easy to do really - if you do it in layers.
I don't layer for drift marble because it is a fast and simple marble (but if I did - I would use oil glaze because it will adhere to the shellac isolating coat better than a latex).
Varnishing:
Once the marble is done and dried completely you can varnish it. Use a non- yellowing latex varnish (such as Minwax "Polycrylic") if you did your marble in latex.
If you did your marble in oil, I would use a 50 / 50 wash coat of shellac. Shellac really doesn't yellow with age like an oil varnish, but it is a bit amber which is why I keep it thin by applying a wash coat.
The two clear coats above are the only clear coats I use when I marble. There are others that work, but those are the two I use. Polycrylic with latex and shellac (wash coat) with oil glaze marbles.
If you do the drift marble with a semi-gloss latex (with your latex glaze) you could skip the clear coat all together and it will look good enough - particularly if you are constrained by budgetary requirements, but it will look better if you do varnish it.
Note:
When using latex in particular (it could happen with oil too), there is the possibility of the paint/glaze crackling if you get it on too thick - so be mindful of this.
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