Drypigment.net

“Of supreme importance in painting is the true understanding of values.  Color is at all times. comparative, and values cannot be determined in any way by comparison.

If we takes white and add a pinch , we produce gray, which compared with the white is a value.  Add to this value a pinch of black as before, which will produce a trifle lower than tint, and we have what is termed a second value.  This value, with a pinch of black added, will produce a trifle deeper gray; and we can proceed this until we reach deep, or low, gray, and lastly black itself.  Now if we lay the values thus proceeding in small planes close to each other, with their edges touching, we can lightly soften these edges with a dry badger blender without interfering with the individual purity of each value and thus produce an agreeable gradation of values ranging from black to light.

With these values set upon the palette, we could render a drawing in black and white which would be suitable for reproduction in a magazine or book illustration and whose proper name would be monotone.”

Excerpt from Frank Atkinson’s “Scene Painting and Bulletin Art” (1916, page 11).

 

Excerpt from “Scenery, a Manual of Scene Design” by Harold Helvenston (1931, page 58)

“In painting flats or units that are to be used in different scenes, under different colored lights, it is the common custom to paint a ground tone of neutral or almost neutral gray, either warm or cold in hue, and upon this spatter three or four or any number of different colors according to a definitely preconceived color scheme.  The spattering colors may be primary colors of light or pigment, secondary colors of either, or any other chromatic system pleasing or displeasing to the artist.  The value of these colors should be the same if there is not to be a predominance of any one color.  This however, is arbitrary.  

This technique results in a very flexible surface for lighting, and when properly combined with different hues and intensities of light it is capable of creating many imaginative and pleasing effects.  If any one light hue is used alone on scenery it has a tendency to bring out that particular hue in the setting.  If two colored lights are combined, the result will reflect its corresponding combination in pigment.  Thus a red light upon a scene that has been spattered with red will produce a red glow to the audience; a combination of red and blue will bring out the red and blue qualities of the setting or their chromatic result, which is magenta.”

Below are two scenes from the Scenery Collection Database at the University of Minnesota. Here is the link to go exploring.  I search “Interiors.”

https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/scenicsearch

And here is an example of spatter on full-scale scenery for the Quincy, Illinois Scottish Rite Theatre (Secret Vault scene).

 

The following excerpt is from “Scenery, a Manual of Scene Design” by Harold Helvenston (1931, page 55)

“Sizing is made by putting into a large bucket about three-quarters of a bucket of dry whiting, allowing water to flow easily into the bucket while a stirring rod or stick is used vigorously to dissolve the lumps and make an evenly consistent paste.  Three or four small cups of glue are then added to this mixture for binding purposes and enough water is added to insure the proper consistency for the easy use of the brush,  the amount of glue is variable and is usually determined by each individual painter in the preparation of sizing…if there is too little glue the paint will crack and if there is too much the sizing will stretch the canvas or cloth too tightly.  The whiting serves to fill the pores of the fabric and the glue acts as a binder to stretch it tightly on the frame.”

 

 

 

Original glue dots, I use much small amounts of glue as there is a tendency for the painted surface to “pucker” around the glue dots.

From Bradford Ashworth’s “Notes on Scene Painting” (1952, page 3)

“Netting comes in two varieties for use as scenery:

(a). the ordinary meshed bar of mosquito netting which is obtainable in many colors.

(b). the natural-color drop and border foliage netting which has a mesh of about one-inch square.”

I have primarily encountered one-inch square netting in Masonic scenery. Prior to the 1920s, each individual knotted intersection was carefully dabbed with glue.  After the 1920s, entire edges are smeared with a  4″ to 6″ wide swath of glue. Attached are pictures form various scenery collections in the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite.  In many cases, you can see the original guidelines, tack marks, and handprints.

 

As it is the Thanksgiving holiday, I have decided to share some scenery from the Blue Lodge design depicting a ship. Typically, the Masonic rocky shore scene includes either a painted ship or a cut-out ship that hooks onto the backdrop. In one Valley, they replaced the original ship with an obvious Thanksgiving decoration (the Mayflower). It is one of those “in-house” alterations that just makes me smile.

and the alternate for the same Scottish Rite Valley…

I have also included a few other original examples for context.

 

“Linen Scrim is still a finer and closer weave than bobbinet and is used mainly for effects such as an apparition or a vision scene, i.e., a subject is painted on the front of the scrim. When the light is removed from the front and brought up to reveal an object behind the scrim, the painting on the front disappears. Since scrim is only seventy-two inches wide, there are seams when it is used to form drops. These seams must be sewn as finely as possible so they will not show.”

Bradford Ashworth’s “Notes on Scene Painting” (1952, page 3)

The images below are from the Pasadena, California, Scottish Rite Theatre for the 15th degree Treasure Chamber scene.