The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-10-16

NAo AS"SIy udLSS SIISClS Ol
night and day, etc., books, photo
graphs and sketches furnishing the
details necessary to carry out the
Aoeas OF the author. The time spent
Win the moled pays in the end. AS
the progress is made alterations and
lntroductions are found to be neces-
sary. With the model one thoroughly
understands the probabilities Of the
scene, its colors, lighting, ETC., and
cLanges are easy to make. To remake
entail considerable expense. After the
model has been approved by. the stage
director n the management, it is
given to the master carpenter in re-
spect TO the construction, who builds
the scenes and delivers them to the
artists to be painted. The different
sectlon OF scenery are taken from the
carpenter shop to the paint room or
bridge.
The paint frame is a large affair,
varying from fifty to seYenty-dve feet
IN length, and from thirty to forty feet
IN height, carefully counterweighted so
tiaL IL. can be lowered and raised along
the rear wall Of the stage. The car
penter attaches to this frame the diff
Lerent portions of scenery to be paint
ed. Drops are tackled, on the paint
frame, as 1T Is called, which is then
raised TO a level with the, paint bridge
1oor. The assistants then prime the
canvas with a coating of glue and
whiting. -. -
Usually the artist begins work with
the back drop, the back portion Of the
stage Or scene, then the different pieces
OF the scene in d until arriving at
Lne foreground The coat of printing
pe1ng dry, the artists assistants, with
piece Of charcoal placed in a crayon-
nolder on the end Of a stick several
rect IN length, draw on the canvas the
lnes or the scene, observing the pro-
portions as they appear in model. Some
artlstS trace oVer the, charcoal out
lines with ink or logwood so as to re-
tam the drawing of color. This reached
the artist n the assistants stand
ready to lay in the colors on the can
vas over the drawing. Large brushes
are used for this purpose. The broad
masses OF color are laid on with a
Dang and decision in such a splendid
material as distemper, and Of what Is
IL not capable; For atmosphere un-
equaled In as powerful as oil in. many
respects, two days work in the latter
can be done in a few hours with dis
temper, a beautiful material, it is at
our service. Used by a man of ability
and not abused, it is capable of pro-
duclng great color schemes. But in
the and Of the novice it plays queer
antlcs. 1t may turn out an unintel-
- VI S1IluuS0S dnO SneATS.
In the dry 1t has become a most ludic-
rious reality, when in a wet state it
was a JOY to the eye and a medium Of
great promise. Alas, this distemper
may play a noVitiate false and long
afterwards it may be a treachero,Is
material to be Stunned as a pigment
allied to the evil one, invented to dry
the disposition Of the painter. How
little the material known as distemper
Is understood. The artist, as a rule,
paints by daylight, SO he must make
allowances for the effect Of artificial
light on his zcolors. He must make. his
tones stronger, for the light at night
bleaches them out, and when a. day
light effect is called for or a moonlight
one, he must allow for the lighting UP
OF the scene, as the time and action
differ in each set or scene. Yellow or
amber light dominates the daylight
effect; blue Is the lone for moonlight;
green is used by some, but I prefer
blue, as a green o tends to make the
faces of characters appear CHASTITY. -,
For storm effects a TRANSPARENT drop
is generally used and the clouds are
worked across the, front of the drop
by means Of a s~tereoptican, while
flashes Of lighting behind the drop
lend a weirdness to the effect required.
For example, take the first scene in
the Tempest. With the vessel tossing,
the waves in motion, clouds flying
across the sky. lightning flashing and
the combination of painting, mechant-
cal skill and perfect lighting.
The best scene ever designed n
lighting. 1t Is the very life of a scene
n the most important touch. A
night rehearsal is a very trying time
In the existence of the scene painter.
The number of miles he walks from the
stage to the front of the house to see
the effect of his experiment will never
be known. Lights are dimmed here, I'D
there, others remain on full so as to
give an even effect of light over the
scene. The gradual change from dawn
to daylight, from sunset to evening,
then the moonrise, are all obtained by
skillful aid of the electrician, a very
necessary person in the mysterious
realms of the stage.
All effects on the stage must emanate
from the inner consciousness Of a
painter. The aim of scenic art for
the future will be a closer study of
nature. a knowledge of natural pheno-
mena from the study of which can be
arranged the working out of effects, be-
it either daylight or moonlight or twi-
light. A painters view of natural
with the limitation Of the stage, I'M
derstood by being brought UP in the
school Of scenic painting a training in
stage work.
What a scene the artist could pro-
duce If he had only himself to please.
But as the scene painter has to work
III ColiJuLlCIAoH ="lLN III SLdBe en-,
machinst, property man and electrician,
the stage picture should call forth the
highest powers of the painter as 1t
has real merit even though it depends
upon contrivances and apparent de-
ceptions. The scenic painter resorts
to schemes and lodges to-, secure his
effects. just as the studio artist re-
sorts to all kinds of handling to aid
not an inferior art simply because in
the hands of ignoramuses and charla-
tans the art of scene painting has been
a sourc of ridicule and term Of con
tempt. :
Some writer's OF art, when pushed
to the wall of. thought for the want
Of an adjective relation to the dement's
of a work of art use the term "theat-
ricaI" and anathematize a picture be-
cause it looks like a piece of stage
scenery. l do not censure them for
resorting to this form. Of expression,
for the traditional art of the stage
like any art in this association may
be ,stilted and unnatural. Scenic art
should not be held secondary to the
decorative art, If the result is artistic
and the painter has gone beyond the
traditions andfc onventionalities Of the
stage. All art Is a struggle, and when
one realizes the Limitation of his spe-
cial department In art he has the in
teIIectual grasp of; his materials and
appreciation Of nature and her many
moods. at = 80 ~ 43I* = $50 t@k>
Artistic expression no matter what
the field, should be the mottoTof all
painters Pictorial consistency should
be the aims of all men practicing art,
the mind of he author is seen only
through the reflection of his ideas in
the mind of the stage director, the
actor and the scenic artist. To these
we must look for that good work
which shall make the stage a popular
school of art.
-anrs , Scotch Dat Cakes.