Need to finish my map!

Stressing a little, I got told today I need to finish my map by Friday, but eeeeep thats only tomorrow and thursday as I'm going to see 'Swinging into Christmas' (the musical theatre students production) on Friday! Realistically I don't think I am going to get it down, as its so detailed - I sometimes wish i had a magnifying glass when I look at the reference!Think I am going to have to take it home and finish ... thats if it fits in my suitcase.

New Personal Project

Ahhhh, I haven't blogged in ages, the past couple of weeks I have just been doing touch up for panto, like painting chips in the paint, going over mistakes etc. I guess I just haven't wanted to blog as I feel so tired at the moment, all I want to do when I come home is sleep!
However, as panto is finished I have started my next personal project which is a world map called 'Orbis Terrarum' crafted by the Dutch astronomer, cartographer and clergyman Petrus Plancius in 1954.

Final Bits and Bobs

Lee wasn't in today so I got put on the face of the Demon Cave, which I was pretty scared about as A) I didn't want to muck up his work so far and B) its quite an integral part of the cave! Jude and Suzie did assist me at points to speed up the process as it had to be on the van at 2pm to take down to the set, and I think overall it looks really quite good!

Fly away Demon Wings

Yay! We got the wings done!

Hole School

Whilst researching my specialist research project I came across an amazing type of stencil street art nicknamed 'Hole School' by the Italian artists Sten & Lex who were the first to kick off this technique.

Tired - Brain also seems not to be working

So tired today, and I felt I was just not very good at painting today - my brushstrokes all just seemed a tad mental! We worked late today as the van to take the 'demon cave wings' comes on thursday at 2pm so we really need finish them! They are made out of a sort of strong foam material which was pretty hard to prime as it sucked up the paint like a sponge, however by 8.15pm I think we were all shattered that we called it a night ... so hopefully we shall get them finished tomorrow.

I also worked on the pyramid door today, it took me a while to find the right technique. To begin with I thought it looked like total rubbish but after some helpful hints from head scenic artist Sarah and my tutor Gary, Suzie and I managed to make blend the colours really well and I'm rather happy with the end result.

Gosh its only 21.41pm but I think I need to go to bed, I'm so tired ... can't wait for everything to be done - we've been working on Aladdin for 12weeks now!

Timorous Beasties

Psychedelic, tripping on acid and beatuiful are the words I would use to describe my favourite interior design company - Timorous Beasties (their website). It is this quirky company founded in the West End of Glasgow in the 1990s that made me interested in researching handpainted wallpaper. Okay, so technically speaking my research project is on hand painted wallpaper and er Timourous Beasties does use machines to create some of their designs but they still use handpainting approaches.

Paul Montgomery Studio

I've just finished reading a book/catalogue about the hand painted wallpaper company 'Paul Montogomery Studio' and their work is amazing! Seeing their detailed hand painted Chinoiserie, European Panoramics, Decorative Panneaux designs ... it just motivates me to be as good them and makes me all the more determined to understand the process of hand painted wallpaper.

Wahoo nearly finished panto!

I feel the whole  the scenic team is working really well together, we got so much done yesterday meaning that today wasn't manic and also meant we didn't stay late tonight :)

Long Productive Day

Yestreday started off a bit slow, there wasn't any work for us to paint again so I went back on my personal project for about an hour, and i just can't wait to be finished - all i need to do it finish off Erich Honecker's  (the man on the right) forehead and chin. 

The rest of the day went really well but it was so long as we stayed late but thankfully we got so much done and which meant we didn't need to stay late tonight or come in tomorrow! Lots of people helped out with the UV painting, I was offered a chance to do it but I was having so much trouble with painting the legs for the pyramid I just wanted to get them done and I had done some UV painting before in props so I just carried on painting away.

Personal Project nearly finished!

I woke up today feeling so ill, blocked nose, sore ears, croaky throat ...  I went into uni thinking this was going to be a terrible day, but y'know just powering through made me feel so much better. Today we were back on our personal projects and okay it may not look that I have done much, but I feel I'm nearly finished my personal project. I just have to:

Fix the lettering
Fix Erich Honecker's sking tone
Fix the suits

A bit of a bummer that we were back on personal projects today as there wasn't anything for us to paint today, I feel this has been a bit annoying throughout the production as I think our momentum keeps on dipping and it just means we are going to have to work so so so hard up until monday night

Murals vs. Hand painted Wallpaper

From the beginning of my specialist research project I have been so confused about the cross over in Murals and Hand painted wallpaper. When I think of a mural I normally think of a picture painted on a wall, but when I think about hand painted wallpaper i think of a chinoiserie scenic setting painted on fine paper. However, I guess the word mural is so vague, and from doing my research it seems anything can be a mural if its painted directly onto a wall/ceiling/floor, so I came to the conclusion that hand painted wallpaper is basically a large mural. And then ... I got confused again, if the wallpaper is painted on panels then maybe it isn't mural? Is it only a mural if your just paint the design directly onto the wall? Oh golly i'm confused again!

So to make things easier for myself, I'm going to focus on hand painted wallpaper styles either in a mural style or not.

A.L. Diament & Co. - Fine hand painted wallpaper

I've been very bad at blogging for my specialist research project, and its not because I can't be bothered, rather the contrary - I just don't know where to start! I come in from SLS (for those who don't know thats Spiers Lock Studios where I spend most of my time painting in the scenic department) and I go online to blog about my day. Once I've finished blogging, my fingers automatically type into google 'hand painted wallpaper.' Typing that into google is lethal for me, literally I could look at opulent wallpaper all day every day; I get lost thinking about one day painting my walls in a Chinoiserie style, I look at hand painted wallpaper companies one after another and then when I log back onto blogger I just don't know how to begin blogging about them!

Panto Paint Call

Long day today. The task wasn't that hard, it was just annoying waiting so long for paint to dry, but heyho thats the way the cookie crumbles. I think we all worked really well as a team today, and understood fully the task in hand, we beasted through and finished by 7.30 instead of 9. (Oh my photos didn't come out so good, so the first one is actually of the model box!)

Glitter, Glitter, oh and more Glitter

Half term today. Really? Well not for us scenic artists - too much to paint before panto, er well to glitter!

Funny Friday

Friday was not a good day for me, I just felt so funny/ill and it was really getting to me.

Murals in interior design

Today everyone likes to have a nice interior, so it isn't surprising that having a hand painted mural in your home or hip restaurant is back in vogue. Think of the feature wall, its normally some really nice wall paper, a bold colour or more recently something really eye catching. This craze is something I'm really interested in, why do people want them? Who is likely to buy them and how much do they cost? How do you go about painting one?

A very BRIEF history of Murals

Murals are probably the oldest form of art dating back thousands of years, to the late stone ages and there are many surving murals from the Egyptian ear (around 3150BC) and is a piece of art painted directly onto a wall/ceiling.

Personal Project Day 3

I'm quite pleased with my progress so far on my painting of the 'Bruderkuss,' I feel I got a lot done today but I'm not sure if I should have got further? Still need to sort of Erich Honecker's skin tone - it isn't looking to fabby ... he looks a bit anemic!
However, that's me finished on my personal project until panto is over as tomorrow we get the Palace Window Flats - wooo! So I will update on my personal project after the panto.

Some History of Hand painted wallpaper

Wall Paper first began in China, no surprises here seeming they invented paper and it is believed they first began to glue rice paper to their walls in 200 B.C. However, painted walls/murals are dated back to the wall paintings of the Egyptians and the Romans.
By the 12th century wall paper had taken off in Europe as it was a cheaper alternative to fabric (however this was still the norm at the time) which covered walls and windows to keep drafts out, the upper classes also used elaborate fabrics/ tapestries on their walls.
It is believed that the first hand painted wall paper in Europe dates back to the early 1400s using a printing block method of religious scenes, this technique is known as 'helgen' but there is evidence to sugest that the Chinese began using this method since the 5th century.

Personal Project Day 2

I didn't really get as far as I would have like today, would have really have liked have got most definition in at least one of the leaders, but heyho thats how the cookie crumbles and I will have to pick up the pace tomorrow. I got told I wasn't using a big enough brush so will definitely use bigger then a 1inch tomorrow as I have to get used to working on a big scale. I don't think my colour mixing was that great today, so need to spend a little more time making sure I get the right tones! Aim for tomorrow: get a least Erich Honecker completely finished and get Leonid Brezhnev skin tone started!

Glasgow Graffiti

I've been walking home the past couple of days and when I turn the corner on argyle street it always makes me smile seeing this amazing piece of street art!

Berlin Wall Personal Project

Getting really into my personal project. I'm really happy i decided to work big as it allows me to be free and as Gary always says 'you're less likely to see a mistake on a much larger scale.'


The only problem I am facing so far is my technique, in my reference the black suits look really flat but I feel having more brush strokes in the black gives it more character ... so I am in a bit of pickle because I keep on doing both! Also I'm putting too much paint on my paint brush and this is causing dribbles all over my work - silly Saz!

So here is my progress so far:

initial charcoal sketch 

inking in and putting the background colour in

end of the day!

Sketchy!

A step backwards

Wahoo we finished the throne! I'm rather pleased with the overall finish, even though in the photo you can't really see the stone texture that Sophie and I created by rolling crushed up newsprint across it.

Oh dear just when we were just getting into the swing of things, picking up the pace and really getting into the panto we've had to take a step backwards instead of a step forward :( Why I hear you cry? Well there is just not enough stuff for us to paint, and now construction have to spend all there time making the largest flat (the palace scene) so we have nothing to do up until Thursday :( As a result we have been allowed to start some personal projects. I have decided to paint a section of the Berlin Wall, 'Bruderkiss' - the famous painting by Russian Artist, Dmitri Vrubel depicts the iconic image of East Germany's Leader Erich Honecker and the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sharing a kiss. I choose this as I want to get better at drawing on a larger scale, I like how its rather controversial and I think I'll be able to execute some good scenic art skills in this piece.

Dragons, Glitter and a Take-Away Box

Well .... the flat I was working on yesterday (the Dragon Palace House) took me so much longer then I expected as I kept on finding ways to make it look better. For example with my timings I had totally forgot to compensate for a Trompe L'oiel effect shadow under the roof, I didn't realise how difficult it was going to be to draw the dragons' faces and I had to touch up a couple of my lines. Anyhoo, I got the flat done after lunch and all in all I was pretty pleased with my work, especially the purple roof.

Today, there hasn't been much work coming through from construction so in a sort of a backwards step I've been able to take my time on things. I worked on the Palace throne today in which I glued the glitter highlights on, in this task I learnt from my mistakes a) choose carefully where to add the glitter (in my first attempt the dragons looked like they were wearing wigs!) and b) that before you put the gold glitter on make sure you paint a gold outline before just incase the glitter falls off. I was pretty happy in the end with my 'glittering' but golly I did take too much time on it!

I got frustrated with myself today when doing the 'Chinese Take-away Box', I have no idea why I found it so difficult to draw the two oriental T's on front as they were rather simple! I'm guessing I was thinking so much about them that I got totally worked up and just couldn't function right, but thankfully they looked alright in the end.

Specialist Research Project

I have decided to do my Specialist Research Project on hand painted wallpaper/murals as I feel this is an area I could go into as a freelancer after I graduate if I can't find any jobs in theatre or film/tv! I keep on finding myself on Google images looking at chinoise wallpaper, or on Timorous Beasties website (the Glasgow based textile and wallpaper company) and I find myself in awe of their beauty and I am desperate to try replicate some designs for my walls in my flat - however I am beginning to run out of walls!

Touch Ups

For once I am beginning to be a bit more chuffed with my work! Today I went back to the paint frame after vector works for an hour and half to help out, as eeeep we only have 2weeks left of panto! Anyhoo I was back on toning down the vibrant colours on one of the flats which I used a white was wash to do so. Despite my lines looking a bit wobbly (will have to do something about them!) I'm confident I'll get this piece complete before lunch tomorrow :)

I'm not VW's biggest fan ...

Today went really quickly, can't actually believe it's week 5! Anyhoo had Vector Works today, a bit of a shame as only 7 of us turned up out 14 - not going to lie thought, I did wish at the beginning that I was painting instead. However, I'm glad I went as I know that being able to understand VW will be very useful for the future and I have made a reminder that I must download the free student version sometime this week as I just have to get grips with it ... I mean when I first started using Facebook I thought it was so confusing, but now using it everyday it's like second nature, so I guess if I keep on using vector works and getting familiar with it I'll be a pro in no time (golly maybe I am being a bit ambitious there!)

Big Draw Weekend - GoMA

I've been working as volunteer at the Gallery of Modern Art for the past couple of Saturdays, normally I help out with the Art club but this weekend was the 'Big Draw' so there was various activities dotted around the museum. I was in charge of drawing with tape, which was really cool to see what people created on the floor using a material which was hard to manipulate. I decided to draw cable coming out of the tv and going to one of the plug sockets to try convey that we rely on electricity for so much - even art! I really enjoy working at GoMA, sometimes I can't believe how creative the kids are - they even put me to shame! Also I'm still unsure what I am going to do with my life after my degree, going to Modern Art galleries always spur off ideas to me as they have huge installations of Art work and I think maybe I could use my scenic art skills to create something HUGE!

Creatures of the Night - Ashton Lane

I had a great time working with Moose Corporations being a prop assistant at the 'creatures of the night event' on ashton lane. It was a long 8 hours starting at midnight and at 6am I could start to feel myself doozing but I kept a happy, hard working determined face on as I knew this was a huge professional event. Nikki, Jill, Jude and I had the task along with Nigel's wife and a girl named India to turn G1 bars/clubs into scary venues. There were van loads of props (some of the skulls had even come from some of the indiana jones movies) and as there was not a lot of time we had to improvise using any tools we could to get the right finishes! We turned 'The Lane' into a scary Vodoo Temple, 'Jinty McGinty's' into a general scary place with a grave yard out back and skulls,rats, spiders etc. dotted around inside, 'Vodka Wodka' was turned into a scary labatory, 'Brel' became a creepy burlesque film house and 'Nude/Radio' got turned into a derelict ballroom. Working on this event was a great experience, and I was so happy/lucky to get picked. I got to strengthen my team working skills, learned to become quicker but still professional when working against the clock and was great insight to were I can use my skills from TPA in the future.

Rusty Stairs

As I hadn't worked on Medea yet, I was put on the task on doing the rust touch ups. However, once again I was rather slow and I feel I spent too much time up close instead of standing back and trying to quickly get the rusty effect. I do think that Jude, Rose and Soph did an amazing job on the stone work and it looks AMAZING! I am rather happy with my rust work, but I'm just annoyed i'm such a slow coach!