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I want to paint a scenic drop but not have the stiffness of paint on the material, also, I want to avoid shrinkage since the audience will be very close to the drop. Any suggestions? Paint? Dye?

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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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If you want to keep your muslin or canvas flexible, but need to size the drop before painting- mix up a batch of Argo Laundry starch, which you can find at amazon-- it must be powdered laundry starch, not the liquid stuff.  The formula is 1lb of powdered laundry starch dissolved in 1/2 gal of cold water, pour this into 3 gal of boiling water.  You can adjust the formula, as a ratio as needed.  Continue to size the drop as you normally would.  

In terms of painting the drop itself, I would use Rosco scenic paint as it can be thinned to perhaps 10 to 1 and still retain a lot of it's pigment properties.  It performs best for me in 2 to 1 or 4 to 1 ratios.

Best

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Michael Johnson
Trinity NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-14-2014 07:03
From: John Perry
Subject: Painting a drop

I want to paint a scenic drop but not have the stiffness of paint on the material, also, I want to avoid shrinkage since the audience will be very close to the drop. Any suggestions? Paint? Dye?

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------

Hi John,
A few thoughts.  Dyes are difficult and hazardous to work with.  I suggest avoiding this solution if you can.  Basic backdrop prep should work OK.  Size your muslin with laundry starch or a mixture of white glue, water and some pigment (add a little acrylic paint)  to provide a good painting surface.  Use paints you can water down to avoid creating the latex crust on top.  The Rosco OB paints work well and can be thinned with water.  Hope this is helpful!

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Rick Osann
Theatre Teacher
Standish ME
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-14-2014 07:03
From: John Perry
Subject: Painting a drop

I want to paint a scenic drop but not have the stiffness of paint on the material, also, I want to avoid shrinkage since the audience will be very close to the drop. Any suggestions? Paint? Dye?

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------

Thanks for the help. It's kinda coming back to me now! LOL

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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-15-2014 07:53
From: Richard Osann
Subject: Painting a drop

Hi John,
A few thoughts.  Dyes are difficult and hazardous to work with.  I suggest avoiding this solution if you can.  Basic backdrop prep should work OK.  Size your muslin with laundry starch or a mixture of white glue, water and some pigment (add a little acrylic paint)  to provide a good painting surface.  Use paints you can water down to avoid creating the latex crust on top.  The Rosco OB paints work well and can be thinned with water.  Hope this is helpful!

-------------------------------------------
Rick Osann
Theatre Teacher
Standish ME
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 10-14-2014 07:03
From: John Perry
Subject: Painting a drop

I want to paint a scenic drop but not have the stiffness of paint on the material, also, I want to avoid shrinkage since the audience will be very close to the drop. Any suggestions? Paint? Dye?

-------------------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
-------------------------------------------