Sunday, May 20, 2012
Sweeney Todd Video
A little YouTube tidbit about the Prague Playhouse production of Sweeney Todd, HERE.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Time Flies
There is never enough time!
Yesterday afternoon I spent "weathering" all the raw wood on the Ruth set to look like weathered fruit crates or pallets. This meant washing the bright yellowish newness of natural pine or fir with dirty gray paint water. I had a bucket of medium gray very washy paint, a bucket each of black and cream, and a bucket of it-started-out-clean water. I'd wash the raw wood with the watery gray, then maybe swipe in a little black or a very little cream, so that each board varied in shade from its neighbors and changed tone a bit across its length. Brush strokes followed the grain of the wood - which runs the length of each slat.
Fun and easy... but slow.
Earlier in this project we painted most of the slats en mass before incorporating them into the structure ("Slats" post HERE), but we needed more slats than just those so, by now, the set has a lot of raw wood. About three hours' worth.
Which meant I didn't get to start the faux "concrete" floor because it wouldn't dry before rehearsal. So I'll be painting that Monday.
BTW that "concrete" look will be essentially the same grayish colors plus a little more brown, just applied differently: instead of streaked and wood grain-y, paint will be applied wet on wet and rather puddle-y with spattering into the still wet base colors, and letting some of the black stage floor show as cracks and discoloration.
I enjoy painting wet on wet... but it's hard to pull off on a large area like a stage floor. It dries too fast.
Time is not the painter's friend.
Yesterday afternoon I spent "weathering" all the raw wood on the Ruth set to look like weathered fruit crates or pallets. This meant washing the bright yellowish newness of natural pine or fir with dirty gray paint water. I had a bucket of medium gray very washy paint, a bucket each of black and cream, and a bucket of it-started-out-clean water. I'd wash the raw wood with the watery gray, then maybe swipe in a little black or a very little cream, so that each board varied in shade from its neighbors and changed tone a bit across its length. Brush strokes followed the grain of the wood - which runs the length of each slat.
Weathered wood - public domain photo from Public Domain Photos
Fun and easy... but slow.
Earlier in this project we painted most of the slats en mass before incorporating them into the structure ("Slats" post HERE), but we needed more slats than just those so, by now, the set has a lot of raw wood. About three hours' worth.
Which meant I didn't get to start the faux "concrete" floor because it wouldn't dry before rehearsal. So I'll be painting that Monday.
BTW that "concrete" look will be essentially the same grayish colors plus a little more brown, just applied differently: instead of streaked and wood grain-y, paint will be applied wet on wet and rather puddle-y with spattering into the still wet base colors, and letting some of the black stage floor show as cracks and discoloration.
I enjoy painting wet on wet... but it's hard to pull off on a large area like a stage floor. It dries too fast.
Time is not the painter's friend.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Inspirational Photos
Sometimes when you're trying to find a design idea it helps to look around...
For some weeks now I've been trying to come up with a schematic design for Smokey Joe's Cafe, a sort of '50s musical revue(ish), or rather, an evening made up entirely of music - no book - that seems to be more unified than a typical random revue, yet has no strong story-line either. Scenicly, it has a strong sense of Time, but not so much of Place. Specific settings change, as they tend to in a collection of songs. Ambiance, maybe, is what this show demands.
I find musical reviews difficult, since sound isn't my leading sense (I favor words and pictures) and my imagination tends to fasten on stories and specificity...
So I've been struggling.
The plan? Oh, the plan was easy - I had it half sketched before I left the initial meeting with the director. But the "look"... really tough. All that came to my mind were '50s cliches not worth drawing up. The only thing that seemed hopeful was the lovely name of the show: "Smokey Joe's." There seemed promise, though in fact all I developed from that was badly doodled smoke curlicues on the edges of all my notes made in other shows' meetings.
So I've spent a while flipping through books or the Internet, researching, looking for a hint.
And on the morning I absolutely HAD TO FINISH, I finally found my inspirational photo:
For some weeks now I've been trying to come up with a schematic design for Smokey Joe's Cafe, a sort of '50s musical revue(ish), or rather, an evening made up entirely of music - no book - that seems to be more unified than a typical random revue, yet has no strong story-line either. Scenicly, it has a strong sense of Time, but not so much of Place. Specific settings change, as they tend to in a collection of songs. Ambiance, maybe, is what this show demands.
I find musical reviews difficult, since sound isn't my leading sense (I favor words and pictures) and my imagination tends to fasten on stories and specificity...
So I've been struggling.
The plan? Oh, the plan was easy - I had it half sketched before I left the initial meeting with the director. But the "look"... really tough. All that came to my mind were '50s cliches not worth drawing up. The only thing that seemed hopeful was the lovely name of the show: "Smokey Joe's." There seemed promise, though in fact all I developed from that was badly doodled smoke curlicues on the edges of all my notes made in other shows' meetings.
So I've spent a while flipping through books or the Internet, researching, looking for a hint.
And on the morning I absolutely HAD TO FINISH, I finally found my inspirational photo:
Believed public domain photo - from Imprint
I won't include the sketch yet (if you can, please go see the set itself! at WaterTower Theater), but the secret was the circle. Smoke rings gave me the design nudge I needed for a good set for Smokey Joe's Cafe.
What else is up lately? Busy, busy. Lots of emailing on various shows; lots of shopping mostly for Boeing, Boeing at WaterTower which opens soon; and several hours painting on Ruth at Kitchen Dog which also Techs this weekend and opens soonest.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Follow-Up on a Site Design
A while back, I wrote a post about the spectacular new Tarrent County College in downtown Fort Worth, which opens up a view to the river below. (Earlier post HERE.)
Well, this month's Texas Architect magazine finally explained the circumstances behind this dramatic choice to carve out a river view... originally, the rest of the campus was going to be across the river!
But then the Radio Shack/Tandy property - a handsome corporate headquarters campus - became available... (Taking in lodgers as folks do when times turn tough.) Suddenly it made more financial sense to keep the college all in downtown. The new college buildings went from a grand entrance to a grand new campus, to a footnote to the main campus down the street.
The best laid plans...
Still, that cut-out view and the water garden are amazing! I'm glad it happened.
(The city intends to put in a pedestrian bridge across the river eventually, but there is a lot of river control work needed before that ever happens.)
Well, this month's Texas Architect magazine finally explained the circumstances behind this dramatic choice to carve out a river view... originally, the rest of the campus was going to be across the river!
But then the Radio Shack/Tandy property - a handsome corporate headquarters campus - became available... (Taking in lodgers as folks do when times turn tough.) Suddenly it made more financial sense to keep the college all in downtown. The new college buildings went from a grand entrance to a grand new campus, to a footnote to the main campus down the street.
The best laid plans...
Still, that cut-out view and the water garden are amazing! I'm glad it happened.
Photo donated to the public domain
(The city intends to put in a pedestrian bridge across the river eventually, but there is a lot of river control work needed before that ever happens.)
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Man-Made Environment and Nature
When Dallas' North Central Expressway was rebuilt it was much widened and - in order to find that extra room - sunk into the ground with its side access roads sometimes cantilevering over it. As much like a cave-highway as possible, basically. To cheer this bleakness, landscaping was added in the endless concrete dividing way between the north-bound and south-bound traffic.
Of course, plantings required water and maintenance... so were allowed to die. No, were allowed to die in patches and then even the hardy still-living plants were rooted out to be concreted over.
There was a public outcry. So, reluctantly, the highway folks agreed to try to grow something. As long as it could be completely ignored, of course.
Today, there is a thin band of native grasses running down the center of the expressway.
Yesterday, stuck in traffic, with nothing but metal and concrete as far as my eye could see, I noticed that these fragile looking yet tough native grasses were swaying and dancing in an elusive breeze only they could feel, their delicate seed heads nodding. The light falling into this man-made canyon lit them in the way sun sometimes catches a spiderweb... suddenly they were much more real than the legion of cars and trucks surrounding them.
I noticed that on a concrete sidewall or embankment nearby, there was a seepage through the concrete. A little ancient spring was still weeping - regardless of highway designers - and at the foot of this trickle, a tiny willow sapling grew from a crack in the road's shoulder.
Nature finds ways.
Of course, plantings required water and maintenance... so were allowed to die. No, were allowed to die in patches and then even the hardy still-living plants were rooted out to be concreted over.
There was a public outcry. So, reluctantly, the highway folks agreed to try to grow something. As long as it could be completely ignored, of course.
Today, there is a thin band of native grasses running down the center of the expressway.
Yesterday, stuck in traffic, with nothing but metal and concrete as far as my eye could see, I noticed that these fragile looking yet tough native grasses were swaying and dancing in an elusive breeze only they could feel, their delicate seed heads nodding. The light falling into this man-made canyon lit them in the way sun sometimes catches a spiderweb... suddenly they were much more real than the legion of cars and trucks surrounding them.
Public domain photo
I noticed that on a concrete sidewall or embankment nearby, there was a seepage through the concrete. A little ancient spring was still weeping - regardless of highway designers - and at the foot of this trickle, a tiny willow sapling grew from a crack in the road's shoulder.
Nature finds ways.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Book Time!
My printer Lulu.com is having a sale - a great time to stock up on copies of Alice Through the Proscenium: more scenic set design, my how-to book on... well, you guessed it.
Alice Through the Proscenium, set design how-to Central!
Here's the Secret Code you need to save:
Alice's page is HERE. Go! Hie thee off to spend to save!
(For those of you who don't read dead trees any more, Alice is also available at Barnes and Noble for the NOOK HERE. Slightly cheaper, but with an uglier glossary - I prefer the dead tree version myself.)
The Arts and the Holidays
I'm suffering under a persistent conviction that today is Tuesday. Not Monday. This is mostly because I worked much of the weekend.
The arts - certainly theater - tend to ignore the idea of taking the weekend off. In fact, the weekend is considered prime work time exactly because folks with day jobs can finally get a whole day (or two) free to work on their art!
So for me this weekend was Mother's Day, which was nice, and also family celebration of a graduation, also very nice, but the bulk of it was work: hauling furniture for one show; building/painting that show; answering set questions; sketching answers to set questions; sketching another variation on another show and scanning and sending that; meeting on yet another show; meeting on still another show; and watching a designer run of that show.
This work-whenever-you-can schedule can wreck havoc with holidays, family and social life, and even rest breaks for your own health if you aren't careful. It's too easy to lose track of time.
But tomorrow I know will be Tuesday.
Because that's Garbage Day... the only fixed temporal point in my week!
The arts - certainly theater - tend to ignore the idea of taking the weekend off. In fact, the weekend is considered prime work time exactly because folks with day jobs can finally get a whole day (or two) free to work on their art!
So for me this weekend was Mother's Day, which was nice, and also family celebration of a graduation, also very nice, but the bulk of it was work: hauling furniture for one show; building/painting that show; answering set questions; sketching answers to set questions; sketching another variation on another show and scanning and sending that; meeting on yet another show; meeting on still another show; and watching a designer run of that show.
This work-whenever-you-can schedule can wreck havoc with holidays, family and social life, and even rest breaks for your own health if you aren't careful. It's too easy to lose track of time.
But tomorrow I know will be Tuesday.
Because that's Garbage Day... the only fixed temporal point in my week!
Public domain photo
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Yet More Variations
The latest latest on Sweeney Todd:
The Sweeney to combine all Sweeneys.
This is the second weekend morning I've woken Too Early because I needed to sketch an idea. Earlier Todds HERE.
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