To learn how to paint scenery.

This particular project was a roof-top unit, set on top of a raked wagon for a moment in the production where a woman breaks out of her home to escape rising flood water. I built the unit from four framed sides with lauan siding. The actual roof portion is made of particle board strips, all fitting together like a puzzle for the actress to break her way out of each performance.

A translucent muslin drop and another opaque drop on opposite sides of an askew comic book style ground plan. This production was done in the Herbst Theater at Wright State University.

At Wright State University, Our set for Oklahoma! was a barn, every panel made of luan and 3/4" plywood. Overtop of the regular barn, our set designer wanted advertisements and bits of sky in various parts, to add detail/interest to the set. We started with the plain wood, and then covered it in a grey mixture of joint compound, flex glue and Rosco paint. (Will hence forth be called Goop.) After gooping the wood, we then dragged through it while it was still wet with wallpaper brushes, creating a large grain.

Tuxedo Junction Fine Art fabricates and paints growing Christmas tree backdrops for the Nutcracker Ballet. We use Rosco Off Broadway paint for our backdrops because it's durable and flexible, which is important when a backdrop has to accordion fold properly. Also, we are big fans of Crystal Gel, which glitter sticks to like a charm!
We also sell blank backdrops for customers to paint themselves. Rosco is our paint of choice and we typically send small samples and product information with the backdrops so our "non-theatre" customers know what to buy.

I had a fun time with this as it was my first time with enlarging a scenic paint elevation to full size. I recently completed my first realized set design with the production, Almost Maine. My focal point that tied together the scenes was the use of a ground row that was inspired by a fish-eye view of the northern lights. I wanted to create a scenic element that would sweep the focus up to the stars and the northern lights in the transitions. I started with creating my painter's elevation in 3/8" scale.

This was a production of Willy Wonka for Boone High School in Orlando FL. The set was painted with Rosco Off-Broadway Scenic Paints. Colors used were Ultramarine Blue, Fire Red, Orange, Lemon Yellow, Golden Yellow, Purple, Magenta, Pthalo Green, Sky Blue, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Pthalo Blue, White and Black. Also used were some Fluorescent paints, Blue, Red and Yellow. You can find some more of my sets, props etc. on my blog http://uniquelysprung.blogspot.com

For a lighting design thesis entitled Light Conversations I combined lighting with static art mediums such as painting to create moving pieces that offered social commentary. For this piece I asked theatre artists at Boston University to use the same 8 Rosco Off Broadway colors to paint whatever abstract design they wished on a 4'x4' square. Each of these was then lit with a color scroller randomly cycling through colors. This created a beautiful, constantly changing environment for an artwork about taking time to enjoy the simple beauty in life.

The scenic design for Sarah Ruhl's Melancholy Play was based heavily on surrealist painter, Rene Magritte. We utilized floating windows to both define and deconstruct the space. Using various, although connected, shades of browns and taupe we created a cohesive look to the entire space.

A production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum put on at Foothill Community College.