Cloth no1 - Into the whale's mouth. 'The Gullet'

The reference.

Lesson no 1 - how to lay & prime a floor cloth.

Initially I felt like eveything a did was a lesson. From how to hold a brush to, to where everything lived in the paintshop. I was way out of my comfort zone and at times I admit I felt a little over whelmed.
This process was always the same.



Something new > little panic > work with it until I found a comfort zone > new skill learnt.
It was as simple as that.

Down with the old

Watch my finger!!

The first cloth was a representation of the inside of the whales mouth.
It was a cut cloth - ie a large section of it will be cut out.


To lay a cloth - you need a hammer, nails, string and a measuring tape. Oh and a little math :P

doesn't look that bad...

The cloth is similar to paper - you need lie it flat and stretch it before painting on it. With paper you use water; on  a large canvas' , we use size in our dept with a little white pigment.
Size is a glue made from animal bones. It's also used in the making of paper - but we use it to prepare the surface we want to paint on.

It's hard work - honest

When the cloth is nailed into place - after much measuring and hammering - it's primed with size then a basecoat of paint.

Sarah show's how it's done!

Next step is to make a grid on the reference and identical grid to scale on the larger canvas.
We're making 1metre boxes on our large canvas which corresponds with the scaled grid on the reference and we mark the lines with string.
Some people snap the lines with charcoal, but it can leave unwanted marks.
Next comes the marking up of the outline of the area to be cut design using the reference as a guide.

Drawing out the design was a real challenge for me. In order to get a distanced view of what I was drawing, I needed to put my charcoal onto a cane. It felt really wobbly and I didn't have so much control as I would have in my hand. I drew out a section and still didn't really feel comfortable with it.
I got a really sore head that day from concentrating so hard.
I remeber Gary (our tutor) showing me a picture of people in a professional theatre working on a floor cloth and thinking they all look so relaxed, yet I am really stiff.
How do they look so comfortable?
-just practice-
Painting onto the whale cloth was the same thing.
We painted it with our brushes on sticks - it was such a weird feeling - to sweep and paint at the same time!

I just can't straighten up - must get close to brush!!

Gary explaining how to sweep properly

Karen's lovin the paint

We were also trying to produce a paper-like look as we applied the first coat, so we were all trying different things - adding more red to our paint, more white. I tried a little section using paint and loads of water and it looked very similar to another section I'd spent a lot of time over working in whites and reds.
And that was the answer. Working in water.
This cloth was all about discovery. Discovery of how I approach challenges, being out of my comfort zone, working with other people and putting together all I learned from this discovery and using it for the next.
I have to say - working with enthusiastic people is an absolute blessing!

Before

After

After we painted our first coat, we marked out and painted the woodgrain lino- print pattern.

























In order to show that each painted section was actually a collage, we added the odd hightlight and dropshadow here and there - create a 3D effect.
My first experience with adding some trompe l'oeil
We brought a ladder in and fortuantely since the cloth was cut we could place it directly onto the missing bit :D

Standing back a wee bit allowed me to get a feeling of how it might look on stage.

Then Gary introduced us to 'Alice - the magic looking thro' glass'...

Karens donkeh face!

I will purchase one of these when I get a chance - a reducing glass! and it is magical - it has the ability to magically allow you to be as far back as an audience member. Indeed one for the toolbox!
Everyone in Paintshop has grown to love Alice :)

With the first coat on and the design layer printed and trompe l'oeil - it was time to figure out how to make it even more beautiful.

I must make it beautiful!

wow - so pretty

Am liking this section!

We touched up and repainted sections that didn't work, and to keep true to the printed design, we added a 'print' effect to the design by using a sponge roller.
When you try out new ideas like sponge printing - you always tend to over do it.
I remeber Gary saying, you should push it far, then learn how to bring it back - sound advice. I learned so much from makin mistakes! :)
I learned things like - adding glaze to the paint dilutes the opacity like adding water, but won't drip as much and makes it more controllable.

aww - my first cloth :P

When all the faffing was complete and the cloth looked like the reference - we decided to roll it up and get it tae...

 This was amazin to watch -
trying to turn a cloth onto it's front when it has a hole in it!

ooft -that was hard work!

When we turned it over, we fold over the cut edge( to create a nice edge) and glue to the back using latex.
Latex essentially is fabric glue.



It took all the team - end to end along the length of the cloth to roll it up neatly ready for the theatre!

The End

Journey continues in 'Cloth no2 -The Waves'