painting backdrops
This week when I went to help with the drama set, I did not get to do much of the actual work, but I did learn a lot by observing. The college kids have been really nice about explaining things to me and letting me watch them while they work. Friday, I learned about scumbling, cross hatching and splatter painting. First on these backdrops, you need a good neutral base color. Then you can apply the same color in three shades-light, medium and dark-and use the cross hatch method to blend them. When this dries, you apply splattered paint in the darker and lighter shades, or even black and white. This kind of painting really helps focus the eye of the audience sixty feet away. It provides the highlight and shadow look to the backdrop. I even learned that there is a special “off Broadway” kind of paint for theater sets that is super concentrated and dries really quickly!
