SCENERY PAINTING FOR THE AMATEUR MUSICAL THEATRE and PANTOMIME
TREASURE ISLAND
Designed and painted by Brian Willis. Sets constructed by Sean Magee
Will be performed by Coleraine Provincial Players, (2010)
THIS PAGE UPDATED ON February 1, 2010
THE DOCKSIDE Page three
Next job is to outline all the important elements on each baclcloth drawing. These are the lines I will be transferring from this sketch onto the backcloth. Using a computer graphics program I increase the brilliance on each sketch to make it fainter then draw in the outline with a thick black pen.
I do this with all the cloths. But will only show you this Dockside one as it has the most detail.
Now - because this has much detail in it, I colour the various elements so I can see them easier when transferring. The actual colours I use are immaterial and are not important as long as they differentiate each section. One other little trick is (when presented with rows of similar items... steps for instance) I will number each step so I don't get in a muddle. You can see I have done this with the wooden cladding on the left.
Finally I then superimpose the 1 cms. grid. (It won't be one cms. on your browser.) I number the lines on the grid as you see below. The thick dotted line running across, just above the 4 cms line, is my horizon/eye line for this particular scene. And the black dots (hard to see) are the main vanishing points. I draw little thumbnails below these to remind me what part of the drawing they refer to.

Looking a bit crowded isn't it? And it gets even worse when I come to transfer this onto the canvas backcloth as I no longer bother to whiten out a cloth to start again but paint over the previous "picture", So the transfer procedure is very complicated and needs lots off concentration. I usually listen to music on headphones whilst transferring. I prepare all my sketches like the above.

And below is a photo of the completed backcloth
16 ft by 11 ft cloth. Paint tin for scale.
I had to "trim my sails" a bit as I had prepared for a 19 ft long cloth but the one I used is only 16 ft.

And on the left is a photo of the Fairy Queen on this set.

 

The Fairy's dress was kindly donated to the Production by "Star Tiara Bridal Wear", Ballymoney.

"Star Tiara Bridal Wear" also gave the tiara and bracelet to the youngster playing the part, for her to keep after the show. So fairy tales really do come true in this case.

I am often asked for my tips on painting a backcloth, so, taking this cloth as an example, I have tried to jot down some of my ideas. CLICK TO SEE this page. (It is very wide!)

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