Painting theater set backgrounds and props. (A first for me!)

 I was asked if I could paint some theater backgrounds and props for my kids school production of Frozen Jr.  It was a fun project and completely new to me.   I was given a basic description of what they wanted on each panel.  One of the other volunteers had a theater background and helped by labeling what needed to be painted and making props.   I just picked out and combined some movie reference photos and tried to work as quickly as I could.  I had about a month to get everything painted.  

I started out painting Anna and Elsa’s beds with donated wall paint.  When I finished the beds I made a stencil based off the movie wall paper.  It took some extra time at home to draw it and cut it out of poster board but it held up for the stenciling. I used a similar process for a door that was donated for a prop.

  

Next I painted this podium that someone rescued from the trash.  I used a darker brown watery paint to cover the orangey stain and then painted the Arendelle flag on the front along with some castle column details.  

The lady in charge of props had her husband make some wooden trees for me to paint.  One side was summer and then they rotated for a winter tree.  The kids primed them a green color for me.  

Next I started on the castle walls.  These were also primmed gray for me by the volunteering students.  I used a projector to sketch out a stone pattern that looked similar to the art in the movie and then I added a few shadow details.  

Next up I painted the castle gates.  These were also sketched out by projector.  It helped me get the brick lines more even and the arch correct on either side of the door.

 Then I started on the ‘spring’ boards.  I again found some movie reference and then tried to simplify it while getting the colors as close as I could.  I projected just to sketch out scale and keep the ground plane even.

Next up Katie and her son finished making the ice throne out of cardboard. So I started painting the ice crystal look over it.  

Michelle and her daughter Ev came in to help me prime the ice crackle panels in a gradient before getting started on the crackle look.  

I had Michelle, Ev, and Kelly come in to help me get started on the largest scene.  This was a combination of snowy concepts from the movie  that I combined in a photo editing software and projected.  We made a lot of progress for one day and I just needed to add in some mid tones and finish the castle. 

In the end I needed almost every day of the month I had to paint in order to finish.  Each 4’ x 8’ panel took a day to complete, props took about 2 days for each.  I worked while my kids were in school from 10-3, 4 days a week.  So a pretty time consuming project!  

After the show I was thanked for my painting work and given flowers, a card and some money as a present and thank you for the work.  Everyone was so sweet.  The costumes were amazing and I had a lot of fun seeing the behind the scenes work that goes into a theater show.  It’s a little sad to think everything gets painted over for next year’s show but maybe some of the brick walls and trees can be reused.  The kids were so cute performing.  I hope it inspires my kids to get involved in future shows!

Cat

 A quick study of my daughter.  

6”x10”

Gouache paint on cold pressed paper.

Peony

A quick gouache paint study on 6”x10” watercolor paper.

 

Lioness Mural

This was such a fun project commissioned by my gym.   I roughed out a lioness reference image combining elements I liked from several different lionesses and then painted colorful splashes to coordinate with some rainbow colors in the room.  

I was nervous at first with the colorful splashes.  I started small but they grew bigger and brighter as the work continued thanks to feedback from the owner.  This project was so large that I began with a projector.  It really sped up the painting time!  It took me 13 hours to paint, spread over 4 days.  I painted with Nova Color acrylic paints.  It was fun to paint such a large area outside of my studio space!  Hopefully more mural work to come 

Life Drawing

 

Stained glass Moth

 I am taking a stained glass class with my friend Kelly.  This is my 1st project.  The template is from the book Kicking Glass.  Next time I plan to make my own.  

Today I finished my moth. I was happy with the floating circle look and driftwood base.  The class openings were full a lot of the time so it was hard to get the studio time.  It made the process take soooo much longer.  I hope next time I can plan out and schedule classes way in advance so finishing doesn’t take so long.  Maybe someday I’ll have my own studio.

Hardy Gallery Mosaic Submission

 

This little painting is up at the Hardy gallery as part of a larger mosaic project.  This year my 2 kids painted a canvas too.  I’m hoping we’ll be able to make it up to Door County to see them while the show’s up!  After the show the canvases are raffled off at random for $35 to support the gallery.  If I make it there for a visit I’ll add a picture!

Beautiful Beetle

6”x6”

Acrylic on canvas

Lisa in her wedding kimono

My friend Lisa shared with me some beautiful wedding photos and I just loved this picture so much that I wanted to do a painting. It’s a very small painting as you can see by the printer paper of my photo reference.  This painting is in gouache paint on 9x12” heavyweight cold press watercolor paper.  I think this is about 20 hours of work.  It was a challenge painting so small but it also was enjoyable to see progress so quickly!  I adore the deep green of her kimono and vibrant flowers!  Even her pose is just so beautiful!  So thank you Lisa!  I hope you enjoy your painting when it arrives in Japan!  
 

In progress:

Hardy Gallery: Magnolia

 It was fun to work on this year's Hardy Gallery Submission.  I painted this little 6 x 6" canvas from one of the pictures I took at Olbrict gardens when the magnolia trees were in bloom.   My long time painters group class likes to submit a canvas each year.  It's always fun to be a part of.   All these little canvases come together to make one big mosaic each year at the Hardy Gallery.  The paintings are purchased by raffle ticket purchase so it's always a surprise what you end up with. 

 

6" x6" acrylic on canvas

Jesse Painting Continued

This is the longest I've ever worked on a painting but I've thoroughly enjoyed the color, textures and surface variety of the gold, cut stones, fur and knitting.  I love portraiture but the textiles also their own delight to work on.  My dear friend Jesse with her pretty orange-brown eyes let me dress her up and sat for me to get my reference.  I'm looking forward to being able to show her how it all turned out in the end!  I'm sure I'll add to this post in the future but here's my update on this painting!

Snail: Hardy Gallery Mosaic Project

 

This little 6" x 6" canvas is a fundraiser for the Hardy Gallery.  Artist from all over receive a canvas to paint and return.  All the little paintings are then assembled in a mosaic and patrons can purchase one by lottery so they never know what little canvas they'll be taking home.   It's a fun little project and one that is finished in a very short amount of time.  

I took this picture of a tiny snail when I was visiting my sister-in-law in Oregon.  It was a small camera phone photo but it still worked for such a small canvas.  :)

Inktober Sketches

I didn't keep up with the hope of doing one ink sketch a day for the month of October but I did manage a few.  Here are a few of my favorites.  The first is of my husband drawn from a picture I took at the light art installation at Olbrict gardens.  The second is a little witch drawn from my imagination.