Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-10

6TNSrF4 nothing that will burn
.SS>@= is employed in the
- H-NAS-l painting Of scenery.
The pigments are not
- mixed with oil or tur-
pentine, but with q So
luton OF glue in water having about the con-
sistency Of milk There is a good reason for
this. II you are taken to look ut an oil paint
Ing you are requested to gaze upon it from a
certain angle, SO as to avoid the shiny reflection
from its surface, otherwise you cannot see it,
Precisely the same effect would be shown by
stage scenery if a like vehicle were utilized
1t would not be practicable to shift the audience
around, however. Accordingly, the pigments
| are applied in the manner above described.
which Is termed painting in "distemper"
scene painting may almost be termed
combination of all arts" said Henry E. Hoyt,
the famous expert in this line. whose workshop
| at the opera house was burned out. THE
scenic artist must be landscape painter. a
inquire painter, an animal painter. He must be
decorator and skilled as well in depicting still
life 1t is his business to reproduce all the as
poets OF land and sea, of town and country. not
! only under normal conditions. but in storm
and earthquake. He must understand the
effects Of fire and explosions Even the APP
pearance of things under the earth must be ia
miiar to him. If he has to represent the inte-
rior of a coal mine he must know how the seams
OF coal look ard how timbers are used for pur-
poses OF support; likewise if it is a silver mine
that is shown. and in either case he must be ac-
qualnted with the machinery and implements
employed. SO that such objects may be thrown
in as accessories. He may be called upon. as in
the new comic opera, 'Sinbad,' TO present
scenes under the sea, where, for lack of water
everything conceivable that is marine, from a
mermaid to an anemone, must be fetched in
If he makes error in a single detail some
IL 10 f.Ea 81, IL
it to the newspapers. People view the work of
the scene painter with colder criticism than the
stage play.
THE WORK MUST BE RAPID.
"Yet all this must be done with the utmost
quickness There is usually no time to spare
for studying up subject. Often it is expected
that all the scenery for a new opera shall be
created within six weaks. Rapidly ia as es-
sential as accuracy in the work of the scenic
artist. How long do you suppose it takes to
execute drop curtain, transforming a sheet
of bare canvas seventy feet by forty into n
complete painting with all its elaborate details?
Three weeks or sometimes less Doing it alone
l mean, with no help but boy who sees that
the brushes are clean and that the glue and
water mixture is fresh. did the act drop at
the Garden Theater in that time. 1t is an en-
iargement of a $4,000 painting, figures two
inches high being made life size. The price for
painting a curtain is ordinarily from $500 to
81 zoo. As rule the designs themselves are
original ones, for it would hardly do for pro-
fessional in my branch Of industry to become
known as a mere copyist. He may adopt ideas
from Others, but he must keep inventing always
1.-The first design for a curtain is drawn on
cardboard, usually on a scale of three-fourths
OF an inch to the foot. 1t is then cut up into
squares by equidistant lines made across it
with lead pencil The canvas for the curtain
is divided into like number of squares, into
ga W in yn2 in, ,nr1x
proportion that part OF the picture which APP
pears in the corresponding square on the
original sketch. II the artist could stand sixty
| or seventy feet away and handle brush of that
length he might do the work after q more free
hand fashion: but be is obliged to paint close
up to the picture, SO that he could no. get
things according to scale other wise. Thus put
together by piecemeal. as it were. the gigantic
painting is quickly thrown into shape Be-
cause the brushes will not hold the watery paint
solutions the colors must be applied with great
freedom and rapidity. Certain atmospheric
effects are produced by this 'distemper' which
cannot be obtained with oils. and this is one of
the points in which claim that scenic art is at
present ahead of oil painting.
THE PAINTING OF SCENERY.
Precisely the same processes as are utilized
in painting stage curtains and act drops are ap-
piled to the making Of all kinds Of scenery.
Suppose that it is desired to produce a wing
piece representing foliage. The first sketch il
done on cardboard in lead pencil, charcoal or
water colors. The artist cuts out the drawing
carefully, so that it is a miniature copy of the
eide scene that is to be. This is handed over to
the stage carpenter. whose business is to repro
duce the shape Of it as exactly as possible Cd
the enlarged scale indicated. his material being
canvas stretched on framework of wood.
Along the edge of the framework he nails wide
strip of very thin wood, which il sawed in
rrD optlipa for the hr,p cbauo and To
the painter desires to alter this outline subse-
quently he can easily do SO. In getting up the
scenery Tor an opera sometimes the chief
artist Will have score of assistants. As
many could easily work together on the
bridge, which extended across the house back
Of the great stage of the Metropolitan Opera
House, while gigantic drop curtain or other
huge piece of canvas stretched in a frame was
raised or lowered by means of pulleys. SO that
the painters could get Mt whatever part Of il
they wished, one putting in sky, another foliage,
another figures, &c. For practicinS with dra-
peries used to have silks; satins and other fab
RIGS, few yards of each. But the scenic artist
paints to great extent 'On cheek, as the phrase
is. He gets things ont of his head. To an ex-
pert in this business it is serious task to turn
out, without any models, a blue plush curtain
lined with silk and overhung with lambrequin
enriched with elaborate applique work and with
cleaning jewels sewn into the fabric-an done
with paint, mind you, on one piece Of canvas"
AT the time OF the 1re Mr.. HOyt was being
assisted in getting up some arctic scenery by
the well-knOwn scenic artist. Operti who has
recently painted for the government many
pictures illustrative of exploration in the frozen
zones. 1t was Operti who saved Hoyts library,
to have lost which would have been q great
misfortune to the latter gentleman, inasmuch
as to the scene painter his stock OF books and
sketches Is az essential as q wardrobe to an
actor. The collection is chiefly remarkable for
its Illustrations, which include prints and draw
ing5 OF pretty nearly everything conceivable.
A skilled workman in this line must always be
ready to paint anything at short notice. Ac-
cordinsly these illustrations embrace all kinds
of birds, beasts, reptiles. fishes, and even
marine invertebrates. Volumes on Costumes"
the 'Atmosphere"-with plates representing
clouds and lightning-the STARS" &C., supply
varied and often necessary data. work on
"Heraldry" gives escutcheons and heraldc
designs. Interviewed with the pages OF the
books are cuts clipped from newspapers. mag
azines and numerous other sources. Wherever
drawing from life can be obtained it is kept
| and put away. For example, the pictures Of
the opera house fire from the illustrated
weeklies are valuable. They show firemen in
the act Of pulling down the walls. Some day
such q scene may be wanted on the stage and it
will be desirable to make it life-like.
The scenic artist makes sketches Of every
thing on his walks abroad. In addition u !
note book and pencil he carries in his poc)61ka
little bit OF q box of paints and two OF fyRU1I