Wood effect painting

[CostumeGrrrl]

Hello, newbie poster here! :huh: I hope this is the right place to post this...

 

I've a friend who needs to paint a prop harpsichord to look like fine finished wood; it will be quite close to the audience, and she's anxious that it looks as much like real wood as possible.

 

I once worked on a production of Amadeus and the scenic painter was amazing. I overheard her coaching a crew member through painting the clavichord, and it was amazing how much it looked like wood, even quite close up. I remember that she had the crew member blend multiples of three fairly wide strips of paint in the direction of the wood grain, saying it didn't matter what color they were so long as one was light, one was medium toned and the last dark toned, making sure that they were well blended into each other at the edges. (As I recall, the crew member used a white, a pink, and a dark brown.) Then she had them finish it with some kind of wood stain or other finish, and it was like magic...instant wood!

 

I do remember her telling the crew member that it was important that it was one particular kind of wood finish (stain? shellac? polyurethane?)...but I don't remember what it was. Can anyone tell me what it is, so I can pass this along to my friend? Does it matter what the under painting is done in? I know she can experiment, but she's on a bit of a short schedule.

 

Thanks in advance for any help. I can sew or manipulate any textile you want, but I'm afraid I'm clueless about paint scenic technique. :blink:

[WiLL]

What you've described is a fairly good set of instructions. In terms of finish then an appropriately coloured wood varnish does wonders.

[CostumeGrrrl]

What you've described is a fairly good set of instructions. In terms of finish then an appropriately coloured wood varnish does wonders.

 

Thanks, WiLL -- does it matter what the formulation of the different paint, stain, and varnish are? I vaguely remember her clanking around in the paint room next to the shop for quite some time and then mentioning to the crew member in the shop that it had to be a particular kind of something or other...

[paulears]

Faux finishes and Trompe L'oeil with "wood grain" in a google search will bring up tons of info. It's actually quite fun, even for the artistically limited, like me. The basic techniques are actually quite simple, but colour selection and the right tools make a big difference. The good news is that even beginners efforts look pretty good from a metre or so on stage. Time and patience were the things I found difficult. My students made a pretty good attempt at their first go!

[charl.ie]

Obviously, you could save the time and go straight for the wood effect paint. You'll find it in all good retailers, next to the tartan paint :huh:

[J Pearce]

Actually you can get wood effect paint.

You put one coat of light primer on, let it dry. Put the 2nd darker primer on, wait for it to go tacky, run the wood grain effect tool over it, let it dry. Varnish with a dark stain varnish.

 

Me and the father used some a few years back on a front door whose front surface was more filler than wood.

[CostumeGrrrl]

Thanks everyone!

 

She did try wood effect graining tools and wasn't happy with how it turned out, which was why I was trying to remember this -- I think maybe wood effect tools might take more practice time than she now has, perhaps, as she said it didn't look enough like the fine furniture effect she needed. (I don't know if she did a test board or if she did it straight onto the prop.)

 

I'm waiting to hear back how the toned-stripes-with-a-stain thing did for her or if she decided to just stick with the wood graining...

[paulears]

Don't blame the tools! I'd challenge people to tell real wood from fake wood when it's been done by people with skill.

 

This site has some interesting info.

[CostumeGrrrl]

Don't blame the tools! I'd challenge people to tell real wood from fake wood when it's been done by people with skill.

 

This site has some interesting info.

 

Thanks for that, Paul -- no, I don't think she blames the tools, just that she didn't have much time to practice the technique. They've gone into tech week now, so I don't imagine I'll hear back from her for another week or so, but I'm curious what she ended up doing...!

[Maddison]

The National Theatre helpfully have a video talking you through this. Looked quite good to me (I tend to build it, and let more talented folk than I do the painting, but I have been known to wave a roller in anger....)

[CostumeGrrrl]

The National Theatre helpfully have a video talking you through this. Looked quite good to me (I tend to build it, and let more talented folk than I do the painting, but I have been known to wave a roller in anger....)

 

Kewl beans! Looking at this vid, I'd tend to think the hardest part is figuring out how the grain so it matches the proper wood, once you've got the technique down. Sure makes it look easy, doesn't he?

 

I may have to give this a go now. We move into a new flat in August or so, and I'm planning on making some cardboard furniture to fill in a few of the gaps in the landscape...it'd be fun to try this stuff out on the cardboard.

[the kid]

Those are actually GREAT videos.