When painting the set, we were each individually given a section to paint. I was given the house and this was the end result.
The wood was light, therefore I stained the wood, to do this, I mixed a very thin layer of rosco, with a tiny part of burnt umber rosco paint and a load of water to ensure when painted on, it would dry so you are still able to see the markings from the original wood.
The floor originally had to be base coated, so light grey was painted with a roller underneath as this tool is quick, which as a scenic artist you have to be with limited time. Light grey was the choice of base coat for a variety of reasons. For example, grey is a neutral colour - this means the colour painted on top will not overly brighten or darken.
To paint the wooden effect on the floor, I got a long stick and taped a thick paint brush to the end. I got both Yellow oaker paint and burnt umber paint, mixed them with water and blended them together whilst ensuring both colours were present, I painted this in a sweeping motion to ensure it was spread evenly.
I encountered some problems when painting my set piece. For example, when I started painting the floor, when I used the broom with the brush, I started using the wrong brush, in which was a wallpapering brush which I thought would work as it was thick but in fact made the task harder to blend the two paints. Another problem I encountered, was some of my stained wood had visible marks where it had been layered, as you can see in the photo above of the wood - this was when someone would paint the wood as if they were painting a wall, when in fact staining wood has to be done delicately to ensure that it goes into the grains of the wood and hits every detail, when painted on too thick it just looks as if it has been painted with a thick paint and not like a dark piece of wood (as it should.)
The stairs were originally designed to have a wooden effect like the floor, but as scenic artists we went against this and decided to paint them black. This was because in the show, there is a scene in a bedroom and we did not want the bedroom and the house look connected in any way, therefore painting the steps black hid them in the light and was more effective in the bedroom scene.
The furniture on the set was also wooden, but was painted a darker brown, which meant that it did not blend in with the set, but in fact caused both parts to stand out from creating a clash.
When painting, we were considering ways and techniques in which would make the set relate well to the play. For the wooden floor, I considered creating a very textured effect by using a grainer but decided against this as it would look a little too much for the audience and would mean the yellow and brown would not blend together well - the floor we also wanted to look like floor boards, so by doing straight lines this made that effect possible.
