Fred's Parlour backdrop

For Fred's parlour in the musical "A Christmas Carol" I wanted to capture a believable early to mid 1800's area of a room. The silhouette portraits and velvet curtains are appropriate. I ditched my original plan of painting a bookshelf on the right side and painted a Grandfather's clock instead. The clock took about 6 hours to complete. 

Painting a cobblestone floor

The first year the show ran, the stage floor was in it's usual state covered with solid black paint. The second year I painted the floor to look like cobblestone. I felt this added a richness and warmth to the set. So the third year I painted the cobblestone again and this time I added some hi-lights so the cobblestone appeared to have dimension. I didn't get a picture of it this year, but I am including a photo from last year.

To paint the cobblestone floor I used a sponge with rounded corners that looked like the perfect stone size to me. I used three different colors of paint (various shades of natural stone) and with a brush, painted directly on to the sponge and then I pressed the sponge on the floor randomly using each of the three colors.

Tomorrow I will post the backdrop for Fred's parlour.

A Christmas Carol

This is my first blog . . . ever. I will continue to show other sets I have designed and painted and hope to hear from interested people who are involved in theater or simply love to watch "the show."

Yesterday I attended the musical "A Christmas Carol" in Ketchum, Idaho. Three years ago I painted the sets for this wonderful show. The whole process took about 300 hours in three weeks time. Each year the backdrops are put in storage until Christmas is once again upon us. The show has become an annual event. Painting for this play kicks off the holiday season for me. Now that the flats are complete, each year I simply have to paint the cobblestone floor and touch up any damage the pieces may have acquired during the moving and storage process.

Happy Holidays to all. I hope to write more tomorrow.