I found a really good book called Watercolor Sketching, by Paul Laseau.
Aimed at architects and designers (perfect! for theater and scenic designers), this book is spare of text but lavish with step-by-step examples. Very helpful whatever your level of experience.
The author has also written a book called Freehand Sketching which I'm going to hunt up!
Friday, August 10, 2012
Building With Books
Just found this cool blog post at learningmaterialswork.com on art/construction projects using books as their raw material. Go look! HERE.
Still more fascinating work on the the website of artist Guy Laramee (who carves books) or an earlier post on Miler Lagos (who uses books as bricks).
Public domain image
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Spoiler! Construction Drawings
A helpful stage manager was able to scan my construction drawings for a show called Or... so I'm taking this rare chance to show you what the full Builder's Drawings for a small, simple set look like, even though these particular drawings are a bit unusual.
The set - well, setS - consist of two locations: a jail cell circa 1670 or so and the main room of writer Aphra Behn's (rather nice) apartment.
The jail will be represented just by the writer's table and chair plus one side of a tiny wagon with a jail door. The apartment will get two whole walls, the jail wagon spun round to reveal a fancy wardrobe, and rather more furniture. Construction will be pretty simple: standard 4' x 8' wall flats - some with doors. Even the little 4' x 4' wagon will be built using standard flats. So the trickiest part of the build will be neatly adding trim and some fabric wall covering.
As for the drawings... I like to draw at a small format - 11" x 17" - because I can easily photocopy that size. Even when I can't find 11" x 17" paper, I can copy half a sheet at a time onto standard 8 1/2" x 11" paper.
So, here's what simple build drawings for a simple theater set look like, at least as I approach it:
The set - well, setS - consist of two locations: a jail cell circa 1670 or so and the main room of writer Aphra Behn's (rather nice) apartment.
The jail will be represented just by the writer's table and chair plus one side of a tiny wagon with a jail door. The apartment will get two whole walls, the jail wagon spun round to reveal a fancy wardrobe, and rather more furniture. Construction will be pretty simple: standard 4' x 8' wall flats - some with doors. Even the little 4' x 4' wagon will be built using standard flats. So the trickiest part of the build will be neatly adding trim and some fabric wall covering.
As for the drawings... I like to draw at a small format - 11" x 17" - because I can easily photocopy that size. Even when I can't find 11" x 17" paper, I can copy half a sheet at a time onto standard 8 1/2" x 11" paper.
So, here's what simple build drawings for a simple theater set look like, at least as I approach it:
This is drawing sheet #1 - the plan. There's no dimensioning on this (unheard of!) because in this theater the existing columns will tell us exactly where the walls have to go. Besides, I'll be there on Load-In day to point and wave my arms. Because this set is built using only standard flat sizes, I just noted which size (4') at each panel. Normally there'd be bunches o' numbers to define what goes where.
And this is sheet #2 - small scale wall elevations and then large scale details of the little jail/wardrobe wagon. A big hairy note describes the types of trim I want to use...
Because we'll be using existing (scrounged) trim, I didn't pick exact model numbers from a catalogue, but instead gave guidelines for selecting from stock. I'm sure there'll be some horse-trading along the lines of: "We have 24' of this kind of molding, but only 10' or this other, so let's use this here and that..."
And sheet #3 - shows a large scale elevation (vertical view) of the folding screen and my first design sketch of the full set, which includes the screen and wardrobe in place.
(This is a color sketch actually, but I have to leave some surprise for Opening, don't I? Come see the show! Or, by Echo Theatre at the Bath House Cultural Center in Dallas.)
Small as these drawings are and fast (if I say it myself) as I am as a draftsman, these construction drawings took a surprisingly long time to draw... mainly 'cause ya design as ya draw.
Thinking. So sloooow.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Book Sale
My printer Lulu.com is having another sale... good news for Readers who want to buy my how-to-set-design book Alice Through the Proscenium!
More on Alice HERE. (Psssst! the secret word is ASTOUND) And, as always, Alice is also available as an ebook from Barnes and Noble.com HERE. (The illustrations and glossary work better on paper though, I think.)
Monday, August 6, 2012
Real People Collect Art
Art collecting sounds like a rich person's hobby - something waaaay out of budget for ordinary people.
Not so.
If spiffy art galleries are too expensive, there are unpretentious galleries too. And venues like antique or craft stores and art and craft fairs that often display lower priced artworks. Look in thrift stores!
My best thrift store find ever? At one nasty-dirty thrift shop where I was looking for picture frames for set dressing - flip, flip, flip, through the art, then - wait... What was that, back a of couple frames? An etching by Salvidor Dali that I bought for less than $5. There are bargain treasures!
For less expensive art, look at art that come in multiples, like posters or prints. Work on paper tends to be less costly than work in paint on canvas or, for real sticker-shock, bronze sculpture. Look for work by less well known artists or in less popular genres.
Let me make a plea for "real" art.
If you buy art made by living artists (from a gallery or direct from the artist's studio), you help support the Art Of Your Time, help support the lives of the very people who, a hundred or even a thousand years from now, will define our era. "Real" art is work that real people put thought, care, skill, and intention into. Sure it will pretty up your rooms, but living with art also enriches your life. Serious art never goes stale - it continues to delight and enlighten.
Live with something you love.
Who says the fine art is not for us regular folks anyway?
I love the story of art collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel - a librarian and a mailman - who put together one of the greatest collections of contemporary art. Listen to Our Roving Art Critic talk about the Vogels at KMUW Wichita HERE. (There's a great clip of a documentary film about them too.)
More on tips for buying inexpensive art on my Squidoo page Thrifty Shopping for Home Decor.
Not so.
If spiffy art galleries are too expensive, there are unpretentious galleries too. And venues like antique or craft stores and art and craft fairs that often display lower priced artworks. Look in thrift stores!
My best thrift store find ever? At one nasty-dirty thrift shop where I was looking for picture frames for set dressing - flip, flip, flip, through the art, then - wait... What was that, back a of couple frames? An etching by Salvidor Dali that I bought for less than $5. There are bargain treasures!
Dali by way of a thrift shop - gotta love it!
For less expensive art, look at art that come in multiples, like posters or prints. Work on paper tends to be less costly than work in paint on canvas or, for real sticker-shock, bronze sculpture. Look for work by less well known artists or in less popular genres.
Let me make a plea for "real" art.
If you buy art made by living artists (from a gallery or direct from the artist's studio), you help support the Art Of Your Time, help support the lives of the very people who, a hundred or even a thousand years from now, will define our era. "Real" art is work that real people put thought, care, skill, and intention into. Sure it will pretty up your rooms, but living with art also enriches your life. Serious art never goes stale - it continues to delight and enlighten.
Live with something you love.
Who says the fine art is not for us regular folks anyway?
I love the story of art collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel - a librarian and a mailman - who put together one of the greatest collections of contemporary art. Listen to Our Roving Art Critic talk about the Vogels at KMUW Wichita HERE. (There's a great clip of a documentary film about them too.)
More on tips for buying inexpensive art on my Squidoo page Thrifty Shopping for Home Decor.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Film Fest - Batman Rises
A little... overblown, I thought.
Mind you, I enjoyed this big (biiiig) summer blockbuster - Catwoman especially and the advent of Robin - but the film did feel too long and too impressed with its own importance.
There were several points of logic that annoyed me too. (Spoilers)
1) The scary villain's face mask? Cool yes, logical no. And the delayed explanation... I just didn't buy it. Wouldn't nice conventional heavy-duty pain meds make that scary mask unnecessary?
2) And why exactly is the League of Shadows so het-up about Gotham? What makes this city so much more compelling a target than any other big-city-with-rich-people... any other city, in other words?
3) Can Bruce Wayne not find a hobby for Pete's sake? Ten years of glum reclusiveness! Dead parents and girlfriend are depressing, I get that, but many people recover from much worse. Can't Alfred get the guy a puppy?
4) And the Unclimbable Wall... looked climbable. Not by me, but I've seen rock climbing gyms and known folks who climbed Yosemite's El Capitain. Looked easily climbable for someone fit enough and motivated enough.
So. Fun flick. Not my favorite of this series.
Mind you, I enjoyed this big (biiiig) summer blockbuster - Catwoman especially and the advent of Robin - but the film did feel too long and too impressed with its own importance.
There were several points of logic that annoyed me too. (Spoilers)
1) The scary villain's face mask? Cool yes, logical no. And the delayed explanation... I just didn't buy it. Wouldn't nice conventional heavy-duty pain meds make that scary mask unnecessary?
2) And why exactly is the League of Shadows so het-up about Gotham? What makes this city so much more compelling a target than any other big-city-with-rich-people... any other city, in other words?
3) Can Bruce Wayne not find a hobby for Pete's sake? Ten years of glum reclusiveness! Dead parents and girlfriend are depressing, I get that, but many people recover from much worse. Can't Alfred get the guy a puppy?
4) And the Unclimbable Wall... looked climbable. Not by me, but I've seen rock climbing gyms and known folks who climbed Yosemite's El Capitain. Looked easily climbable for someone fit enough and motivated enough.
So. Fun flick. Not my favorite of this series.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Fight Call and Farcical Design
Last night was the Designer Run for the British farce See How They Run at Circle Theatre.
It's going to be funny!
But before the Run there was Fight Call, to rehearse various chases and physical bits.
Director Robin Armstrong is known for farce and physical comedy - creating one of the best comic moments I've ever seen in Incorruptible - a brilliant silent fight between a man and a woman (who was supposed to be dead at the time) literally over the head of a monk who knelt, praying, with his eyes closed. As he finished his prayer and opened his eyes, the woman lay there again "dead" in front of him - fight over. Perfectly timed. So it was fascinating to watch this new show's fight rehearsal. I didn't know (being no actor or athlete) that such scenes are practiced at varying speeds: slo-mo, 3/4 speed, and full speed (AKA did-you-catch-that?!) I could see the actors becoming both controlled and fluid.
For See How They Run, it's lots o' chases and mock fights that turn into real mayhem... Very funny stuff.
How does this effect the set? (Because a Designer Run is not called just so I can giggle.)
Well, first of all there's safe footing for these running actors. We'd intended to seal the painted stage floor with a slightly glossy/slick polyurethane, to ease a scene when an actor is dragged away. But, what with all this running around, it became obvious that it's more important to make the floor non-skid. We'll leave the stage as an UNsealed painted finish. Luckily its faux "stone" look will hide some skid marks and, if damaged, will be relatively easy to touch up.
Then there's the rug in front of the sofa. There's a mock fight there, so padding under the carpet is important (not to bruise actors), but there's still all that running... so we'll triple pad the rug, then firmly staple it to the stage to keep it from sliding.
Furniture selection is inportant. There is so much physical business on (and over) the sofa that it had to be not just a good period "look" (meaning appropriate fabric and style) but well padded. There are gym mats that get less of a workout than this couch! The sofa will get screwed down to the floor too.
In a farce doors must always be sturdy specimens with heavy-duty hinges, catches, knobs, and latches. Having doors "bounce" back open when slammed is a problem to solve. At this stage of the build, doors are in place, but hardware is still being found and installed.
At the floor plan stage of set design, door placement and distance between entrances are critical decisions, because this effects comic timing.
I've designed this vicarage as a Tudor half-timbered house. Building timbers from foam might have been a good/cheap idea for a straight play, a drama, but as this is farce they need to be of sturdier plywood. There's a stair rail that gets some rowdiness, so the carpenter has built it like a wooden M1 tank.
After watching the Designer Run, building this set like a wooden tank seems about right... it's a comic battlefield!
It's going to be funny!
But before the Run there was Fight Call, to rehearse various chases and physical bits.
Director Robin Armstrong is known for farce and physical comedy - creating one of the best comic moments I've ever seen in Incorruptible - a brilliant silent fight between a man and a woman (who was supposed to be dead at the time) literally over the head of a monk who knelt, praying, with his eyes closed. As he finished his prayer and opened his eyes, the woman lay there again "dead" in front of him - fight over. Perfectly timed. So it was fascinating to watch this new show's fight rehearsal. I didn't know (being no actor or athlete) that such scenes are practiced at varying speeds: slo-mo, 3/4 speed, and full speed (AKA did-you-catch-that?!) I could see the actors becoming both controlled and fluid.
For See How They Run, it's lots o' chases and mock fights that turn into real mayhem... Very funny stuff.
How does this effect the set? (Because a Designer Run is not called just so I can giggle.)
Well, first of all there's safe footing for these running actors. We'd intended to seal the painted stage floor with a slightly glossy/slick polyurethane, to ease a scene when an actor is dragged away. But, what with all this running around, it became obvious that it's more important to make the floor non-skid. We'll leave the stage as an UNsealed painted finish. Luckily its faux "stone" look will hide some skid marks and, if damaged, will be relatively easy to touch up.
Then there's the rug in front of the sofa. There's a mock fight there, so padding under the carpet is important (not to bruise actors), but there's still all that running... so we'll triple pad the rug, then firmly staple it to the stage to keep it from sliding.
Furniture selection is inportant. There is so much physical business on (and over) the sofa that it had to be not just a good period "look" (meaning appropriate fabric and style) but well padded. There are gym mats that get less of a workout than this couch! The sofa will get screwed down to the floor too.
In a farce doors must always be sturdy specimens with heavy-duty hinges, catches, knobs, and latches. Having doors "bounce" back open when slammed is a problem to solve. At this stage of the build, doors are in place, but hardware is still being found and installed.
At the floor plan stage of set design, door placement and distance between entrances are critical decisions, because this effects comic timing.
I've designed this vicarage as a Tudor half-timbered house. Building timbers from foam might have been a good/cheap idea for a straight play, a drama, but as this is farce they need to be of sturdier plywood. There's a stair rail that gets some rowdiness, so the carpenter has built it like a wooden M1 tank.
A wooden tank - found HERE
After watching the Designer Run, building this set like a wooden tank seems about right... it's a comic battlefield!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Runny Aroundy Day
Today is going to be one big circle o' driving here.
The Scenic Ride is still stuffed full of set dressing from The Divine Sister (including an I-hope-not-too-smelly deer's head, ick) which I need to return this morning... in order to RE-fill the car with set dressing and furniture for the upcoming show See How They Run, which I'll need to first pick up from... is it Plano? (a far north-of-Dallas suburb), then deliver to Fort Worth when I go there for tonight's production meeting and designer-run. At least three towns worth of hauling.
Phew. Tired just thinking about it.
Of course, what I need to be doing is staying at my board all day, finishing drawings for The Mystery of Irma Vep. This is the theater designer's Standard Dilemma.
The Scenic Ride is still stuffed full of set dressing from The Divine Sister (including an I-hope-not-too-smelly deer's head, ick) which I need to return this morning... in order to RE-fill the car with set dressing and furniture for the upcoming show See How They Run, which I'll need to first pick up from... is it Plano? (a far north-of-Dallas suburb), then deliver to Fort Worth when I go there for tonight's production meeting and designer-run. At least three towns worth of hauling.
Phew. Tired just thinking about it.
Of course, what I need to be doing is staying at my board all day, finishing drawings for The Mystery of Irma Vep. This is the theater designer's Standard Dilemma.
public domain images continually messed with...
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