Casing, Palace, Uv and the end of Panto

So the whole of panto there was never more stress than about the 2 Items I am about to Blog about. 

The Casing was used in the Genie Cave  as a way of transforming the scene into something a little more Bollywood and partyish. Both Sarah and Gary were freaking out about it as it was that we only fabric we had a small amount of material if cut wrong could not be replaced. They got wires crossed in regards to how to tackle the project causing unnecessary stress and a miss communication to myself and Maisie. However with care and  concentration this ended up being one of the easiest things we did.   Normally we would be using Silk but as we were unable to budget for that we ended up using cotton. It worked nicely from the stalls but i did not like the effect from the circles.

The Palace was also seemed to cause a lot of stress. It did appear we were running out of time and Both Simon and Matt were off for a few days during this part of the build. However when it came to painting ( i was not part of the drawing up) I felt it took a lot less time than was expected. Most of this flat was cut out so the coat of Yellow was quick. Getting the curves to give that feeling of circular room was not as tricky as we first expected. 

By Far the funniest part of Panto was the UV painting which was a Shame as it was not able to be seen on stage during the pyramid scene. All the lights were turend off the blue lights on and blue moon party music on and off we went. It did not take long and was not very difficult just a night spirt lifting activity. Afterwards gary showed us chroma-depth and interesting style of painting using 3d style cinema glasses uv light and colours. I love learning about little things like this and often wish we got a hour long lecture a week about techniques, styles or even different practitioners. I think it would help us become more creative. The course is very much  about self motivation and self teaching however sometimes thats hard to do when you dont know where to start.

I pretty clear to me i didn't enjoy Panto. In hindsight i wasent as motivated as I should have been but looking back i learned less than i hoped to but more than I thought i did.  Thats a thought that i will definitely try and remember for next term and hopefully i will be writing that i have learned and developed and grown as a person by this time next term :P

Lady luck

 So after the main bulk of Panto was finished I was able to continue with the personal project i had barley managed to start. I really liked the references i found for this Woman and really liked the style of painting directly onto the wood with no primer and using the tones and surface texture of the wood to enhance the painting.

At the start of the project i was not feeling positive I was feeling  like nothing had been going right for weeks and all i needed was a success. In hindsight i think sometime things never seem to go right because I dont believe they can. Sometimes i think focus on the bad thing and forget all about the good.

Although not as perfect as i would have liked as (the circles are wonky and the stencil didn't work as well as i hoped) I was pleasantly surprised by my painting of the actual figure including the skull and humming bird. I started off by painting the coller and the body seemed to flow from there.  I was nervous about adding the black goo, key and heart tattoo

and have found that in cases like that i will procrastinate to avoid working on the area. When I eventually picked up my brush i found these parts the easiest by far.  The circle's were problematic because when painted slightly wonky  you fixed one and it offset the other. I have learned from this to pay more attention at the start and to be very precise about thing that can obviously seen to be wrong

I am happy with the final result and i feel the process was beneficial to me. The painting helped me see how attitude  can affect work and also made me aware of how it must affect the people around me.

Meda, Into the Woods, Dracula

So its a pretty busy term for us. All in all we appear to have painted 4 shows one of them by accident ( Into the wood) and Bloggings been pretty problematic to keep up with so here is a quick run down of each show

Dracula

Dracula was a fairly simple paint job. The show was being managed by Maisie  as well as attending the floor paint call one Wednesday I helped with spraying red angled drapes with a Black border . Our biggest problem was that of space. It is clear the run up to December so laying out vast amounts of Fabric on the floor was hindering to the painting of Panto.  However Dracula had priority and needs must.  To combat this problem we layed 1/2 the drapes out one day and half next next. This allowed other scenic artist to be able to continue there work around us. The designer commented that the paint was  not  as black as she would have liked  but that is something which was dependant on budget. Paint was also different in areas but we found the more we used the guns the more the drapes begun to look consistent. Yet again another good exercise using different techniques. Although the actually painting was not challenging working out the best was to organise things was very good practice to help change the way you think about a problem.

Medea

I worked on Medea helping paint and stretch  the large 12 x2.5m Canvas that went along the back wall. I was really excited to paint this as it ment having a break from panto for a few days and i loved the design. I felt andy the designer had done a really good job with his Design. Our first problem that arose was that will all the stress of panto it had slipped thr carpentry tutors mind to order the wood. So with only a short time we got to work stretching the canvas. Luckily we were able to use pressure staple guns  or i can imagine very sore fingers before we were  even ready to paint. The painting was fun and easy it was a loose design and we were nice free and watery with it. I also got the chance to mix and use vermiculight and textured substance which we used on the floor cloth. It was fun and easy to use. It felt  good to see it done and finished.

f  

Into The Woods

Now having a few days spare to work on personal project seems like a good idea but for some reason the 3rd year Scenic Girls are gluttons for punishment and  agreed to help on Into the woods. It was a pretty easy paint job turning a fireplace and door into wood and then painting the floor green with a wet blend into black. Our biggest Issue with this project was time as we were not allocated to work on this show there was no allocated scenic time. We found ourselves working around people including after hours. Im glad it was a good design or i have a feeling we all would have flat out not bothered.

It's a fine line ..

It very often a fine line the divid between the different Applied arts  department . Today myself and Rose have been painting the costumes of the chorus.

It was nice to spend a few days out of the department as we worked upstairs. I had also never painted costumes before so this was a great opportunity to try something new as well as letting me make some pretty stencils.

I have never had any use for freezer paper before and really enjoyed using it. It was a great material for making stencils for fabric and if your careful there is no reason why you cant use it a few times It is also best to cut out a few stencils at the same time as it dosent take any more time and is nice to have
a spare.

You also had to be very careful the thickness of the paint you put on so it would not bleed.

I found this project to be beneficial to my learning as  i learned about new materials and practiced old techniques.  I find in a lot of things I do I need to take more care and as someone had painstaking made these costumes before i painted them it was nerve racking at points.

In the end I painted 4 costumes and I am please with the results

Always gonna be another mountain...

 Today really felt like panto was coming to an end only a few more things to paint and the satuarday call cancled bur no rest for the wicked as I appear to have been roped into helping with into the woods which is somthing im really happy about. Its easy and fun and looks like its gonna be a pretty show. Theres not much to be done but no ones allocted to it. Its nice to have a more involmnet with the mangment students again, so looks like i shall be in tomorrow with a few others to contiue the painting.
 I actually cant belive i never went to see dracula or Meda both shows looked fab but i just never really felt like I had the time to really enjoy watching them. I have studied both scripts and like each pices of text and have painted both shows  but have not seen either of them. Its safe to say i am kicking myslef now.
 As for placments and work i got a placment on a  tv show being filmed in Dumbarton  in Janaury. So hopefully the show i am managing next term wont interfeere with that buT we shall just hAve to see at the final design meeting on the 16th decmeber. Also got a job working for UKTS painting the panto next week so a nice 3-5 days away from Uni and getting paid so pretty happy about that. Money is always a plus on the leed up to Christmas.

I feel like the atmosphere in the Paint shop has been very stressful and alot of pressure has been put on people for what appears to have been no reason. People are getting tired anxious and annoyed but only a few days left and things will be on the up.

 The first production meeting for Tommy was fairly straightforward. The production is no Scenic heavy at all. Of course there will be things to do and possibly more to come  as the design develops but it gives me hope that i will be able to work on personal projects, shows and placments.

The bain of this show ...

Almost done

The final push!

Apologies for the almost indispfrable blog post. Not feeling amazing mtoivated so took a lot less care than normal.

I've not been blogging lately and i was not really sure why. Its already the end of October and we are around 2.7 shows down . The final push for panto. Upon reflecting on the past few weeks i have noticed a server drop in my confidence and after conversations analysis and a lot of painful thought i think i have come to the conclusion and its not really something i can talk publicly about here. I just hope i can fix it. I wanted to paint today but when i tried i just got angry again and thought whats the point. Its not right that someone can make you feel like that in the space of a few short weeks. Anyway I need to move on or i shall rant  a half nonsense rant. So....

 Less than 1 year to go and hopefully I will have a B.A in Technical and Production Arts and its safe to say the fear has set in.  Work placements, Dissertations, Management role. Im not the most organised person so I am well aware I need to keep on top of everything.  Thankfully I managed to sort my work placement and disteration out early focusing on opera for my dissertation i have been able to secure a work placement at the Royal Opera house in London in April. So safe to say i am over the moon. I have also recenlty been in contact with fiona clark at the Lyceum and she im welcome to come round for a chat and a wee peak round the workshop. Also very excited. I am hoping to get more into the art department side of things in a few short films and have been sending out a few emails today in regards to helping out. This summer courtesy of Luisa Cocozza (http://www.luisacocozza.com/) I worked on a short  for director chris fallen called green the film was quick funny and beautiful shot. It had a few makes anD after watching the film i am please with the outcome.  Panto, Meda and Dracula have all had a big mix of designs and given us a great chance to try/practice  different tools and techniques. Spray guns, vermiculite (?I have no ideal how on earth you spell it) and of course that little bit of trompe. Anyway im going to leave this update just now and hopefully gain more momentum in the coming week.

The past months

Its been over for a few months now and it was hard to get used to at first. Excited to be home but despratly missing my Southern califonia life. My mind set proably made worse by the greay weather and the stone i put on from the wonders of american ood.
It. I miss being in L.a even tho its crazy to think its only been  weeks since portfolio review, classes and my old life. It was so hard saying goodbye to my friends and teachers. It was hard saying goodbye to the bubble that was Calarts. I arrived back in scotland and I have no ideal what i need to do. So i decided to keep focused and i did.

On arriving back i began work on my personal project i wanted to learn how to use the spray gun as well as usign some U.V paint so decided to paint a wee jelly fish picture. Im not gonna lie i foudn it really hard to get the hang of it and avoided my hardest to start painting it but now i just want finish it! Feeling like i am finaly getting the hang of it!

As well as painting the Gellys (As i like to call them) I was also working on the final few weeks of hansel and gretal the opera. It  was fab design and worked really well. The props department had a ball.

So now its the summer and im at School everyday. First few days painting Sunday in the Park with george  our Summer show and now doing some of drama works as a paid technical assistant. God i want a hoildays! Also been doing a work at a sushi resteraunt and a few days painting for the assembally rooms.

Trying to keep my motivation going Ihave managed to arrnage placments for myslef August and September at Scottish Opera and Pitchlochery. I Guess i know i need a break but i also want to keep trucking for the time being.

So a wee quick less work realted chat. Keeping busy sicne i came back has been important trying to forget the lack of sunshine. There has been gym days, cinema trips, Coffes, drinks, Graduation balls, Engagement partys, Family Vists the list gose on. Anyway hopefully i will be able to explain them all in more deatil but for now its time to go do some more work .. ewww

yay!

alis grave nil (nothing is heavy to those who have wings)

Im talking a little time out from .. the most stressful day of the calarts year the day before portfolio review so i can write this quick wee note. My last class has happened and a week today myself and roise will be leaving Calarts. In 2 weeks we will be on our way home. Im finishing of my work and amazed to look at everything i have learned over the past 2 years. I think my biggest lesson has been learning that things are never going to look amazing straight away add, layers, build up... WORK! Ok ok i still hate transulanice painting but never fear it will be ready for tomorrow .. anyway i need to stop procrastinating and well do it.

Closing time..

It's that time of year for finishing things off ... projects needing to be concluded. Classes finishing up, shows striking and Films wrapping. Its scary. Almost time to go back to reality. Today was the start of the last 30 days of my adventure and to say im confused is and understatement. I cant wait to get home and see everyone. Im feeling so enthusiastic and happy but god am i going to miss people, friends, teachers, classes even the dorms. Im  going to miss my Rosie even tho she wont be far away it wont be the same. I feel more settled here than ever and have met some amazing friends.  This school has helped me understand how to use home to my best advantage and to decided and be sure of what i want. I miss my loved ones back home and am so happy its not long till i see them.

 This week saw the opening on my Show Phadras Love and the Wrap of the Film chasing Eden. There has been celebrations dinner and final goodbyes.  Everything is closing up and its sad. I have a tons of things i want to write but all i can really think of is that. I  tearing up already what on earth is graduation going to be like.  So i guess all I can really say is thank you.

New Purdys

... love

Scenic Artist? Scenic Painter? T.D?

(sorry for the worse spelling grammer etc than normal its 3am) So here at Cal arts i am confused student. No doubt about it. I am a Bfa scenic painter,  a course which they don't have. So I study set design. Set design dose not have much production work for a BFA 2, so after a few months i approached the TD department and i have been working non stop ever since. Although helping build a lot of the set i feel i have done a lot of Scenic work also, Work that here is left to the TD department. The Scenic Artist seem more of Scenic Painters for example.. we made these walls

At home i suspect the Scenic artist would apply the Bottles but here it is the T.Ds. The Scenic Painters added a layers a drippy layer white paint to the the bottles. Which will look amazing in the light. I was part of this the paint call.

Once we finished the walls  (over 7000 bottles) .   We made curved benches. This involved using a Jig and a revived maths skills as the benches had to be cut a specific circumferences.

We also made a raised rake circular platform.

Above the platform we made a " technology tree" This was great as we bent pipes on the pipe bender which involved a trip to the SUPER SHOP. Its like the Scene shop but for artists so the tools are amazing. I didn't get to weld however as the class isn't running this year but i am going to learn a little after the production is over!

Then after treating the benches with paper and metal lathe we began to cement them. Now dont get on at me if i'm wrong here but why are the T.Ds adding the texture! This is surely scenic!

We first added a layer to just "bite" with the metal then a second smother layer. Afterwards we covered it in a sprtiz of water and added covered it in painters plastic. Repeat and continue for  oh umm .. 5 days. until all benches and Platform are done. So this week as well as doing . 8 classes i also worked a 44 hour week on a production i'm not even sure I am getting credit on as well you know ... its not scenic and this isnt to far off a normal week. I makes me wonder why one team are working so hard and another .. is only in every so often for a wee paint job. What is a Scenic Artist? What is a scenic painter? and what the hell is a T.D

Anyway off to sleep 9am paint call followed by a 2 day film shoot. Making the most of it i guess.

BAM BAM BAM!

Been far to busy to write but lately. There is a million half written drafts about the last few weeks adventures but nothing worth while so lets hope this turns out better.

So much has happened I think the best way to do this would be a list.

Phaedra’s

The production is a “creative design process” as working on the show for the td and paint team I have learned a lot. It Made me much more aware of the importance of maths, and consistency. The painting is fairly easy with a mostly white water wash with dabs of colour.  Master carpentry work my main job on the show was a big learning curve for me being something I don’t really do much of it was hard to adjust again to the sweep, routers, jigs and pneumatic screw guns but I finally feel like I’m getting it. All good. Helped on a few other shows as well an hour here and there, just marking out and priming boring but necessary.

Chasing Eden

Spent this weekend working on the set for one students film thesis. The films called Chasing Eden and the house we were filming at this weekend if absolutely gorgeous. All tho simple Set design/ dressing it looks really effective and makes you aware of continuity. Its also interesting to watch the filming process. I think my fav  thing so far has been meeting these new people.

Music video,

My friend is spending this weekend shooting a music video and he  required his guitar to be giving a make over in the style of John Pollock. First I took apart and sanded down the guitar masked of the areas  that was needed then applied a  base layer of white spray paint. Once dry I took a waster bottle with a few small holes in it and filled it with paint and a drop of water . Then dribbled the paint over the Guitar. I applied 3 layers in yellow, blue and red. Then a layer of spray varnish was applied.

Disneyland

This weekend myself, roise and Tom went on a trip to Disneyland to see behind the scenes of the costume shop.  Looking at the sketches, designs and fabrication process was astounding. The actually costumes were breathing taking especially the wigs and masks. Paulette the shop manger also took us on a small tour around Disney as well as  letting in to see Aladdin. The production was visually and technically breathe taking. With there being 2 flying carpets ( one a costume  with a amazing acrobat and the other actually flying over your head) a life size elephant costume as well as camels and horse we were nothing but blown away.

Another amazing thing was the floats they were building of course a lot of it was top secret so were unable to take pictures but the ones in development look fantastic and I hope I get a chance to see them before I head home.

Classes

Light lab class is killing me. I love it but most of the girls are not interested at all and it drives me insane to work with them.

Model making is ok, I find with the busy out of class schedule I don’t have time to work  on my models as much as needed but what I do have time to do is good so hopefully soon I will be able to spend more time on them.

3D sculptor

I like this class because the aim is to get us comfortable with a Varity of different mediums, wire, polystyrene, joint compound and lately wire and concrete to crate a sculptor that we can apply mosaic to. Cant wait to see how it turns out!

Scene painting.

Currently working on a translucent painting copying the work of mookia. Currently on the drawing up stages but cant wait  to see how it turns out. Really hoping to add it to my portfolio if it turns out well.

Stage craft.

Currently working on making a carnival game. It gives us the opportunity to make flats, platform, treads and doors so it a great all round basic stagecraft education. Really learning a lot from it and finding this class very valuable.

Friday drawing

Friday is still my drawing day and although not progressing as fast as I was at the start still a lovely way to finish the week.

Although busy with work still been having fun .. Rosie birthday, Vegas, Management office beers, Long beach, Venice beach, Margaritas and days by the pool