Scenic Art - Lessons 2 + 3 - Lesson Notes and Study Tasks

Bark Texture
Creating the Texture

Materials Used
Wooden board
Flintex
Sand
Gravel
String

Tools
Graining Comb
Pointed Sash Brush


Process

A fairly large amount of Flintex* is mixed with varying amounts of sand and gravel. This creates an uneven, rough base texture to work off of. Using a brush of your choosing (we used pointed sash brushes), you are now able to coat your set piece with a thin layer of your mixture. You can then run a graining comb brush horizontally across the piece, which begins to create the uneven ridges often seen on bark. This is repeated several times until you are happy with the result. I also included several lengths of string for added definition and texture. Although not included in my work, it is possible to create a knot effect by building up your mixture in a rough circular shape. Jamie created this effect and used string to help define the general shape of the knot. I thought this was a fantastic effect when trying to create realistic trees. To complete your base, you may want to add some more sand/gravel to create a more tactile finish.

Brickwork 
// Alternatives Expense, less freedom
Vacuum form - Peter Evans Studio
Tools
Gridle Scraper
Masking Tape
Tape Measure

Materials
Idendon
Sand

Process
To begin creating brickwork some reference material is needed. For this project we used pre-made vacuum formed brick as our reference to work from. Once your measurements have been obtained you are able to start marking out the brickwork. Between each row and brick, the scenic artist needs to leave a one CM gap that will represent the cement. This cement line is then covered with a strip of double sided tape.
Similar to creating bark, a base texture is created by mixing idendon with a variety of scatter materials until the required texture is obtained. Unlike with bark, a smoother texture is often required for brick work. To achieve this we ran gridle scrapers across the wooden board until we reached the ideal surface state.
Note! There is a lot of variation between bricks so some work will require more smoothing and less sand, while others will need more sand and less smoothing. For example, Jamie wanted quite a rough texture that imitated the brickwork outside so he created a much grainier base of idendon to work from. He then didn't spend as much time smoothing the bricks down. This creates a much older, cracked effect that could work well if the scenic artist is trying to replicate older buildings.
Once you are happy with the surface texture the tape is removed and the brickwork is left to dry so it can be painted.

Painting the Bark


Paints used
Rosco Paint - Yellow Ochre
Rosco Paint - Raw Umber
Rosco Paint - White
Rosco Paint - Black

Process
When painting your bark it is a good idea to start with light colours and work your way up to the darker tones. This creates a sense of depth within the texture. To paint my bark texture I began with an extremely watery layer of yellow ochre before slowly adding bits of raw umber and black to give it its darker overtones.


A Notes on Paints
Rosco Paint - 1:1 or 1:2 water ratio is required

"It is a durable product only marginally less tough than Idenden Brushcote"

Bristol Paints
Bristol Paints have a much weaker pigment and can be
Texture Guns
For large scale scenic texturing it is helpful to use a texture gun, which coats large areas of your set with texture quickly and efficiently. When using a texture gun it is important to load it with thinner versions of idendon and flintex in order to ensure that the gun does not clog.

* https://shop.flints.co.uk/Products/pg_Pliable_Coatings/PATFHS810
£51.45 - 10L


Vacuum Forming - Peter Evans Studio
Durable, clean look, built in fire retardant chemicals, flexibility and speed of production
Vacuum forming offers a more even and clean cut look.

What is Vacuum Forming
"Vacuum forming is a simplified version of thermoforming, where a sheet of plastic is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto a single-surface mold, and forced against the mold by a vacuum." - Direct definition from Wikipedia.
Q1) What is the purpose of applying texture to stage sets?

Q2) Find two examples of stage sets that utilise texturing. How do the scenic artists achieve this effect?

What do you think is effective?

Rock Face

Cliff face

Tree?

Rust
Q3) Find a few examples of both man-made and natural surface textures. How would you reproduce these textures?

concrete - sand and flintet.

I would attempt to recreate this wall work combining pebbles with idendon. Once an initial base had been applied to the set I would then paint over the texture with a thinner version of the flintex used in texture guns in order to give the final piece a slightly smoother finish. 

Once the texture had dried I would use a mixture of orange and yellow paint to get the yellowy orange tint as seen in the image. I would use rosco paint because I would be able to water it down more to create the paler, more washed out colour towards the bottom of the image. I would then build on this layer using the same paint mix to create the stronger tones towards the top. I think I'm quite fortunate in that there is a gradual transition between the colours as it means I am able to wash the colours in more gradually. I feel like there would have been more room for error if I attempted to use this method for a stronger paint tone.

I would attempt to create this texture in a similar way to how the brick work texture is created. 

Les Miserables
Due to the uneven and slightly rough texture of the brick pillars I would use idendon to create the effect because it would be easier to shape and give a sense of age. I personally think that vacuum forming would appear too pristine and clean cut. The pillars are also relatively thin so I think I would struggle to cut and stick the vacuum forming together in a way that looked realistic and natural. On the other hand, I think that the scenic artist could get away with using vacuum forming for the circular door way and wall to the because it has a much cleaner look.


 Year 2 - Design in Action Project

Cobblestone
Grave Stones

The grave stone was made by creating a polystyrene base to the rough size and then covering it in idendon