SCENERY PAINTING FOR THE AMATEUR MUSICAL THEATRE and PANTOMIME

Me and My Girl - Page one
Designer Liam Berry. Backcloths by Brian Willis.
Performed by the pupils of Cross and Passion College, Ballycastle (2004)

This is my diary of painting one of the cloths... Sort of a "Paint Along With Brian"
Now all I have to do is paint it! This is a brand new canvas so I am about to seal it with a mixture of white emulsion paint, PVA glue, a little water. And just a tad of red (light pink once diluted) - so that I know what I have covered.
There is a lip of wood all around the edge of the rostrum to stop the ladders falling off, and brakes on all four castors too.
HAREFORD HALL EXTERIOR. Once I have eventually sketched out what I want on the cloth, I then draw it out to scale on paper. (I use 1cm:1 ft.) . The colours are not significant. I just fill in the various sections with any old colour to help me when it comes to transferring the outlines onto the backcloth. The cloth is 26 feet long but I have only drawn out 22 feet and will shuffle it about during the transfer, adding trees/grass on either side. Hopefully the edges will be hidden by wing flats.
Transfer completed . I hijacked a young member of the cast to stand in front for scale. Transferring is a very laborious job. I listen on headphones to music as I work.
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