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“French Ultramarine: extremely powerful and semi-transparent; the accepted substitute for the more expensive genuine ultramarine; indispensable, permanent; non-poisonous.”

(Frank Atkinson’s “Scene Painting and Bulletin Art,” 1916, page 20)

 

“The medium for binding distemper is known as “size,” or sizing.  For making it, gelatine is preferred, although the best grade of White Cabinet Glue answers very well and is most commonly used.  Drop four or five pounds into the cauldron, cover it with water, and fill the water vessel two-thirds full of water.  Apply the heat, and when the glue is melted you will have extra strong size.  One dipper full of strong size with four dippers of clear hot water will produce working size.” Excerpt from Frank Atkinson’s “Scene Painting and Bulletin Art” (1916, page 154).

Advice from Wendy: My glue supplier is Bjorn Industries out of North Carolina.  I have discussed my need for animal glue during restoration projects with their chemist and we decided on their product HC351.  Rabbit skin glue is my second favorite to work with as an alternative. Also, NEVER put size water in plastic – only metal or glass.  Also, do not seal the jar, cover loosely.  Otherwise, you create your own little science experiment, allowing the glue to begin a rotting process.

“Profile Cuts on Netting” (Frank Atkinson, Scene Painting and Bulletin Art, 1916, page 194)

“Wings with much profile are very expensive, and it is difficult to join them to the borders, since they must be painted separately; so, in place of them, we render wings and border complete on a full-sized stretch, and when finished we take a sharp knife and cut out the entire creation and all of the openings found inside the principle outline in a most elaborate manner. The center of the stretch is, of course, wasted, and can be used for for covering small set pieces in other productions.”

“Lemon Yellow: a beautiful, light, vivid color; in body and opacity nearly equal to Naples Yellow, but much purer and more lucid in color and tint, and at the same time not liable to change by damp, sulphurous, or impure air, or by the action of light, or by steel palette knife, or by mixture with white lead, zinc, or other pigments; this makes it a valuable addition to the palette.  It is principally adapted to high lights and produces agreeable effects when glazed over green.”

From ScenePainting and Bulletin Art by Frank Atkinson, 1916, page 18

 

“Non-poisonous colors are colors which work agreeably in all admixtures with other colors, with true affinity.

Yellow Ochre: ‘King of the Palette’; good everywhere that one may chose to use it; it is indispensable in ‘carnations’ of flesh tints; absolutely non-poisonous; can be mixed with any color on the palette; quite opaque; permanent; dries fast.”

Excerpt from Frank Atkinson’s Scene Painting and Bulletin Art (1916, page 16-18)

“A permanent color is a color that retains the hue recorded at the time of painting.  Among the permanent colors are a number that intensify or deepen the value and quality.  This is due, not so much to their chemical composition as to the action of the oil used in the reduction, which has a tendency to deepen.” Excerpt from Frank Atkinson, Scene Painting and Bulletin Art (1915, page 16)

Vandyke Brown: (bituminous earth) a rich, transparent pigment; permanent; slow drier.

 

“The most essential thing to know about color is whether it is fugitive or permanent, poisonous or non-poisonous.  A fugitive color is one that fades or diminishes from the hue recorded at the time of painting, after exposure to light, either in a long or short duration of time.  Fugitive color should be avoided if the work is desired for permanent exhibition, but can be used indiscriminately if the work is of a temporary nature, or for reproduction.”  Excerpt by Frank Atkinson in Scene Painting and Bulletin Art (1916, page 16)

Scottish Rite Scenery Collections were intended as works of a “temporary nature.”  Scenic artists selected many colors for their vibrancy, not their permanency.  These large-scale artworks were never intended as part of a permanent collection.  All of the painted collections that I have restored over the years show signs of fading and the proof is what remained hidden under sandwich battens. When the battens at the top and bottom of each drop are removed, brilliant colors reappear and show their original vibrancy.

“Foliage, even in masses, should have a feeling of looseness, a quick, flirting touch with a pointed brush, varying the touch as the formation of the mass dictates.” From Scene Painting and Bulletin Art, Frank Atkinson, 1916, page 33.

 

I was hired by the City of Winona in 2014 to temporarily store all of their scenery into an onstage storage unit. Paul Sannerud was the certified rigger that gently lowered the drops to the stage floor.  The purpose of the project was to safeguard their 1909 painted scenery collection while the building was underwent extensive repairs.  The roof had leaked for years, causing unsightly water damage on most of the drops.  Streams of water had run down the stage left, center, and stage right sides to the point that raw fabric was often visible and the dye rings were extreme!  During our project it rained heavily one day and the roof leaked – again.  Luckily, the drops in that area had been removed and we simply watched a puddle of rainwater appear on the stage floor. After all of the scenes were removed we were able to identify the leak as and we could clearly see the sky from the stage floor!!!  I have some doubt that these scenes will ever be restored and hang under stage lights.  They are heavily damaged and will be extremely expensive to repair. The building has also been considered for venues that could not support the need for this historic scenery collection. Therefore, I am starting with some painting details from the 1909 Sosman & Landis installation, specifically details from the 18th degree (Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry).  Scenic studios typically labelled this scene as the “Constellation.”  The reason for this label is that the words Faith, Hope, and Charity appear in the night sky as stars. Over time, members of the Fraternity (in all areas of the country) attempt to make the original stage effects BETTER. In the case of the translucent areas for the revelation of words, they apply paint on the backside of the drop to prevent light from leaking when backlit. Light will appear in worn areas of fabric; the application of an opaque product on the back will prevent this problem.  This works great – on NEW drops, not old dry pigment drops.  In the case with Winona, this application of new paint caused two unfortunate consequences: the fabric both shrunk and these sky areas were discolored.  The application of a liquid may cause an original dry pigment painted surface to “blossom” (my term). Sometimes there are granules of undissolved pigment in the original paint coat; granules that were never fully mixed into the original color.  Adding liquid on top of this type of paint (or under this paint from the backside of the drop) will cause these hidden granules of color to “blossom” on the painted surface.  Here is an example of a warm dry pigment color that “blossomed” in the blue night sky when it was back-painted.