 C.W. Williams |
backgrounds I would like some pointers on making backgrounds
|
|
|
|
||
|
Jeff S. Kennedy |
How much time do you have? ;-))) First of all you have to decide on size. The biggest you can manage is best. Muslin is the easiest and least expensive fabric to work with. Fabric stores carry muslin in a maximum width of 10' (some places only carry 9' widths). Chicago Canvas & Supply (check them out online) carries much larger widths so you don't have to end up sewing pieces together and have to deal with a seam on your backgrounds. I dye my backgrounds. Some people prefer to paint them. A combination of the two techniques may be the best way. Chicago Canvas carries dyes and fabric paints too. For dying, I used RIT dye (you can find it in grocery stores or fabric stores or even drug stores). I washed my muslin to remove any sizing and roughly wadded it up in a large Rubbermaid tub. Try to keep the wadding as irregular as possible so you don't get a tie dyed look (unless you want a tie dyed look). Then I mixed up a strong concentration of the dye and poored it over the fabric until it was submerged (I placed rocks on top to keep fabric from floating above the dye). Depending on how dark you want the fabric you can soak it a couple of hours or over night. Once mine was done I laid it out in my yard and took concentrated dye and sponged it on to fine tune the look I wanted. I leave mine hanging in my studio/garage. They hang from a track system. It's the same kind of track hospitals use for their examination curtains. When not in use I just slide them into a corner of the track.
|
|
|
|
||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||