Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Distemper Painting Workshop: Color and Process, Day 1

Copyright © 2024 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

I was asked to teach a three-day distemper scene painting class at the Tyne Theatre & Opera House last fall. The workshop would coincide with my delivering new ground rows to the theatre. It was scheduled immediately before the 19th-century Scenic Art conference on August 2, 2024.

Flyers advertised:

The Tyne Theatre & Opera House are offering a 3-day distemper painting workshop with scenic painter Wendy Waszut-Barrett. The course will take place in Newcastle from Tuesday 30 July – Thursday 1 August 2024. Over 3days participants will learn historic painting techniques and create 2 paintings using distemper. All equipment including painting frames, brushes, pigments, gloves, etc. will be provided. A maximum of 12 places are available.

Day One: Introduction to Distemper Painting/Distemper Paint Preparation/ Colour Theory/English and Continental Methods

Day Two: Seascape Project

Day Three: Drapery Project

I have continued to fine-tune both the timeline and projects for my distemper painting classes; it has taken me years to come up with a framework for this type of workshop. First and foremost, it is extremely important to devote one entire day to color theory and experiencing the nuances of distemper paint.

I always try to start with a presentation about color; selection, mixing and application. Revisiting color theory as a group places all the students on the same page. It levels the playing field before trying to replicate any artwork, or understand a new application technique.

My rationale is that when you discuss color as a group, it is much easier to understand the various characteristics.

Here is my 2023 color theory presentation for CITT, if you want to see a previous workshop example: https://drypigment.net/2023/11/13/travels-of-a-scenic-artist-and-scholar-painting-workshop-at-citt-in-toronto-august-15-16-2023/

I tweak my color theory presentation for each class. It helps me grow as an instructor, allowing me revisit my own thoughts each time. I was extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful group of students and one stellar assistant (pictured below)!

As promised to the class, here is the color theory section of my presentation.

One of the easiest ways to teach color theory for painted illusion on stage is using distemper paint. Pure color (pigment paste) is combined with diluted hide glue (size).

Mixed on the scenic artist’s palette, it was immediately applied to the fabric.  The constant mixing of strategic color combinations worked with various lighting systems to promote special effects on stage.  This is why so most extant drops could transition from day-to-night scenes.

It is VERY important to not get caught up in the name of any one color, as it is the characteristic that’s important – warm or cool.

The easiest way to show color characteristics is with yellow. On the left is a “warm” yellow, and on the right is a “cool” yellow. It is very important to know the various characteristics of the colors that you are planning to mix.

The characteristic greatly affects the result in a color wheel or when mixing neutrals.

Here is an example of a color wheel with primary and secondary colors clearly marked on the ring. However, it will shift if a warm or cool yellow is combined with a warm or cool red to produce an orange.  This ultimately affects the creation of neutrals.

For example, green will shift if blue is combined with a warm yellow or cool yellow.

Also, combining blue with orange produces wonderful variations for shadows that reflect both warm and cool lights. 

We are familiar with spattering a drop to make sure that it will glow on stage, as some contemporary colors look “dead” under certain lighting conditions. That is never the case with distemper painting, as the actual painting process ensures that every color will reflect light.

For example, a blue sky, always has a little warmth (orange/red/burnt sienna) added to the color, and this allows a sky to transition from a beautiful sunrise to midday to sunset. The same can be said for mixing shadow colors and washes, whether applied as a transparent glaze or an opaque wash.

This (orange/blue) color combination appeared on historic scenery in North American, the UK, and Europe.  Here is an example from the Stadsschouwburg (Municipal Theatre), Kortrijk, Belgium.

Working with a minimal color palette in the beginning works best for understanding distemper paint. I love to show Tobias Mayer’s color triangle from 1758. It looks at a unique combination of primaries (blue, red, and yellow). In the end, it is important to select four colors (blue, red, yellow, and dark) when exploring strategic color combinations for the stage.

Once strategic combinations are understood, we move on to the application and an economy of brush stroke.

Here is an example of a floral detail from a palatial courtyard scene.

There is a basic contrast of value that must be used for painted illusion on stage. This is crucial when painting for a distance. The audience’s eye really needs to work.

When a subject is finely painted, with careful blending, like in the art of trompe l’oeil, it does not read well from a distance.  I will later go into depth about this when we get to the drapery painting project.

The flower below shows a selection of dark, medium, and light colors without any careful blending. There is a distinct contrast of color and value.

Each of these values also alternates between warm and cool. The dark-medium-light values alternate cool-warm-cool or warm-cool-warm.

Even when the same value is used (pictured below), there is an alternation of warm and cool. The strategic color placement for the foliage allows the object to shift under stage lights and appear more realistic from a distance. It reads better from the audience and does not appear flat.

Our first exercise explored both color and painting process.

Here are a few examples of my own color swatches. Before any distemper painting process, I familiarize myself with the colors, even if I have used them before. This often includes a “draw-down” so that I also know how far a color will stretch.

I divided the first project into four quadrants. The intent was for the students experiment with color and viscosity of the distemper palette.

The first step helps facilitate a basic understanding of mixing pigment paste and size. Creating basic color swatches helps us understand not only the color’s characteristic, but also how far the color will extend when thinned out. 

I believe that everyone needs a moment to experiment with a new type of paint – where the stakes are very low. It is too much to expect students to immediately replicate a stage scene with distemper paint; too much new information actually creates an obstacle to learning. This is the moment to “play” without any self-judgement.

The second quadrant of the first project was to test the opacity and value of each color. It was an opportunity to also experiment with neutrals that would be used on the upcoming projects. I firmly believe that if you know the range of your color palette (what colors can be achieved), you are one step ahead of the game.

Typically, the next two quadrants of the first project would be two color wheels. However, for this class we jumped into base coats – practicing for the next two projects.

In the end, this proved invaluable, as each student had a chance to work with color combinations and application techniques that would be used in both their seascape and drapery projects.

We learned a lot that first day while overcoming a few obstacles. The stage lighting proved to be a bit of a challenge, as did the fabric weight.

I will start with the fabric and pigments.

Although not quite what I expected, the workshop fabric was the same texture and weight that I have encountered with dozens of historic drops, c. 1890-1920. 

It was a cross between a theatrical gauze and very thin cotton sheeting. The silver lining was that each composition could function as a transparency – another great learning opportunity!

Here are the slides that I added in my presentation to address this particular aspect/challenge of the projects:

I first explained the similarity in materials that I had documented throughout my career. Mill stamps are a delight to find on an extant scene.  The fabric delivered for the workshop was almost identical to that used by J. M. Deeds Scenic Studio in Spokane, Washington, in 1915.

As is the case with most painted scenery, when lit from the front, it all looks opaque. In many cases, it even looks like the painting is on the thickest canvas available. And here is where I want to take a moment and comment on industry standards and variables.

We take it for granted that the scenery fabrics in current use have remained mostly unchanged over the years. That is simply not the case; nor was it the case a century ago. Materials are always dependent upon location, supply, demand, budgetary parameters, and world events.

I agree that there was some consistency in larger metropolitan areas. This was primarily due to client expectations, suppliers and distributers. However, not everyone delivered scenery to prominent New York or London venues.

There was a whole other world where skilled scenic artists in distant locals used a variety of materials. In more rural settings, a wide range of cloth was employed for theatrical scenery, yet the inferior fabric did not detract from the painted illusion.

Here is a detail of extremely thin fabric beneath a distemper painting from the scenic studio of J. M. Deeds in Spokane, Washington, c. 1915.

This type of fabric was popular for its versatility under various lighting conditions.  For example, it was popular for the revelation of a hidden artifact. The detail below shows a 1915 example of a transparency in the center of a treasure chamber scene at the Masonic Theatre in Grand Forks, North Dakota. This is a 1915 drop manufactured by Sosman & Landis Scenic Studio of Chicago, Illinois.

Here is another early-20^h-century example from a theatre in Quincy, Illinois. This was a 1912 transparent drop (same function as a contemporary scrim) manufactured by Toomey & Volland Scenic Studio of St. Louis, Missouri.

And lastly, here is a transparent drop that was produced by Becker Bros. Scenic Studio of Chicago in 1930 for the Scottish Rite Theatre in Moline, Illinois.

Unlike contemporary scenic paint on shark tooth scrim, when holes are filled in the open-weave fabric, it does not destroy the scenic illusion on stage. One could argue that unless the majority of holes in a shark tooth scrim are filled, the entire scene will still successfully function as a transparency on stage.

Here is another view of the same drop from the wings.

The scenic studios of Sosman & Landis, Toomey & Volland, and Becker Bros. were major theatrical suppliers in large metropolitan areas. In the end, the weight of the fabric was often concealed by the skill of the scenic artist.  Using a less-expensive fabric also increased the overall profit margin for many studios. As we learned in the workshop, it paints up quite well.

Here is how the our first day of class went after my PowerPoint presentation… We initially worked as a group, cooking size in the morning. Flints Theatre Chandler (https://www.flints.co.uk/ ) supplied the rabbit skin glue (https://www.flints.co.uk/product/all/adh098500 ) and dry pigment (https://www.flints.co.uk/products/haussman-dry-scenic-colours?page=1 ) for this workshop.

To cook the rabbit skin glue on the stage, we used a double boiler on a hot pot, placed on a metal table. You can successfully use a variety of appliances that use indirect heat – this is just one method. I have often picked up crockpots to cook glue too.

A side note on selecting animal glue… I personally used a combination of hide glue and technical gelatin (high-clarity). In the past I worked with the chemist at Bjorn Industries . The company offers a variety of hide glue grades, ranging in strength and clarity. Their is also a quaint family-owned aspect to the company, with their products being delivered in a Ziplock bag.

For the Distemper painting workshop, we used the following HATO pigments:

Lemon Yellow, Chrome Yellow, Indian Yellow, Raw Sienna, True Orange Medium, True Red Light, Ultramarine Blue, Turquoise Blue, Crystal White.

And two pigments from Mylands: Burnt Umber and Raw Umber.

Everything went well, but I really missed my two standard colors: a cool red (one to counter the warm red) and a really dark brown (Van Dyke). Although black was available, I refuse to place that on my scenic art palette (unless it is for a sign painting project). That is a whole other discussion and has to do with stage light.

Fortunately, the Raw Umber was uncharacteristically dark, almost filling the Van Dyke gap. Despite this minor deficit, the projects did not suffer from a lack of color options.

I am also going to address pigment quality and availability. For me, even poor-quality dry pigments are better than pre-mixed scenic paints.

I also consider sustainability when planning a scenic art project. The distemper paint system is a relatively green process with very, very, very little waste. In its dry form, color and hide glue can be stored for decades. Dry pigment paste that dries on a palette, or in a pail, can also be reconstituted, again and again. The only waste is size water that has turned. However, the shelf life of size can be greatly extended if stored in glass, left uncovered, and refrigerated. It can easily keep for up to a month in proper conditions.

I’ll start with a note on the Flints website concerning their Dry Scenic Colors:

Flints have struggled to maintain a regular supply of good quality Dry Powder Pigments so we have now decided to stock this excellent range from Germany. Haussmann have been producing these fine pigments for many years, so we are very confident that we will be able to provide you with a consistent range of excellent quality scenic powder pigments with some really vibrant bright colours plus a good selection of earths. A hand painted colour chart is available for a nominal sum. Please note, the Raw and Burnt Umber pigments are now from an alternate supplier, as Haussmann are no longer able to supply them. We have elected to do this in order to ensure we can supply an adequate range.

It is wonderful that Flints carries dry colors, and there are many pros to using the distemper painting system. Here is a slide that I included in my presentation:

Also, if you are looking for a color that is not carried by a theatrical supplier, check out the fine art world.

Here are a few other dry pigment suppliers:

Sennelier (https://www.sennelier-colors.com/en/Pigments_17.html )

Gamblin (https://gamblincolors.com/oil-painting/color/dry-pigments/ )

C. Robertson & Co. (https://www.croberson.co.uk/other-brands/cornelissen.html )

Lutea (https://lutea.be/en/ )

Bulk Apothecary (https://www.bulkapothecary.com/pigment-powder-colors/ )

Rublev Colours (https://rublevcolours.com/products/ )

This is not a finite list, and dry pigment is available from numerous art stores, including Dick Blick, Jackson’s, Jerry’s Artarama Art Supplies, Etsy, Archsupplies, and more. Dry pigment is far easier to purchase now, and more readily available, than thirty years ago.

Throughout the duration of the Distemper Painting Workshop, the stage lighting proved to be a challenge, in term of both temperature and direction. However, we were able to rearrange the frames and add some lighting booms to resolve some of the issues.

By the end of the first day, we recognized that two rows of projects created very poor lighting conditions in some areas.

We opted to have a single row of frames, placed directly between two main light sources hanging above the stage. This provided a general wash that equally illuminated all of the projects. It also allowed students to view their projects from the auditorium.

Additionally, we placed a sheet of black plastic between the frame projects, blocking light from the other side, as the fabric was so thin. This was Grit Eckert’s idea, as she was reminded of some scenic studios who used black behind the vertical frame when painting transparent scenes.

I want to take a moment to thank Grit for her amazing assistance throughout the entire workshop. She was there to document the process, as well as lending a helping hand whenever needed. It would not have been possible to run this class as smoothly as it went without her assistance.

My next post will look at seascape projects, and why this type of exercise may be the best introduction to distemper painting.

To be continued…