Book excerpt: "This original Dover publication illustrates dozens of accidental effects discovered by a commercial artist in the course of his work. Some are the result of bringing together materials that react with each other, some the result of applying pigment in uncommon ways. The text describes how you can create similar accidental designs yourself with only basic art materials. Nine areas of "accident" are described and illustrated: tree forms created by the movement of pigments or liquids ; crackle patterns resulting from stress in layers of glue, paint, India ink, or graphite ; crawl patterns as coats of paint over irregular or incompatible surfaces unevenly ; random patterns of drips, drops, or dribbles ; splashes and runs created by vigorous impact and gravity ; marble effects created by pulling paper or canvas through paint which is floating on water ; wrinkle lines and folds in a variety of materials ; flower patterns formed when pigments are dropped on non-absorbent surfaces ; and a miscellany--27 plates that shoe patterns emerging from ink flowing along wrinkled paper, scorch marks from a kerosene flame, waves in water-filled baking pan, and similar material. Eight color plates suggest some of the variations possible with colored pigments or crayons, and 55 other figures show natural "accidents" such as dried stream bed, ceramic crackle, beach pebbles, dirty water runs on glass etc."--back cover.