Ebru vs Kufic
エブル / クーフィー体
Ebru comes from Decorated Paper and Kufic from Calligraphic Traditions. One is technique and the other style. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Ebru
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Turkish marbling: pigments floated on thickened water, drawn into flowers and swirls with comb and stylus, lifted onto paper. Grown from calligraphy's ground into an art of its own, inscribed by UNESCO.
Kufic
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Keeps the uprights short and draws the horizontals long, massing letters of straight strokes and right angles into a band of even height.
| Ebru | Kufic | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 15th century– | 8th century onward |
| Family | Decorated Paper | Calligraphic Traditions |
| Kind | Technique | Style |
| Cues | Flower forms on water (ebru çiçekleri) / Combed wave patterns / The chance of each single sheet / Pairing with calligraphy | Horizontals drawn long / Short angular uprights / Letters turning at right angles / Lines massed into an even band |
| Best used for | Endpapers and bindings where every sheet must differ from the last · Using chance pattern as the ground beneath calligraphy | Cutting an inscription into a wall or a vessel as a band · Using the angular letterforms as figure, for titling and marks meant to be read from a distance |
| Type | Write the letters afterwards, into space the pattern left open | Fix the ratio of upright to horizontal first, and turn every corner at a right angle |
| Composition | Scatter a few flowers only and fill the rest with combed waves | Align the top and the foot of the line, space the uprights evenly, and run the letters as a band |
| Material | Pigment dropped on thickened water, drawn with comb and stylus, lifted once | Cut into stone, brick and tile, and on parchment hold the stroke to an even weight with the reed pen |
| Caution | Scanning the pattern and tiling it removes the chance of the single sheet, which is what makes it work, and leaves printed wallpaper. | Copying only the right angles while breaking the joins between letters leaves an ornamental band that no longer reads as a word. |