Lizard Skin, Part One of Two
Sep. 21st, 2012 10:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labricoleuseOur graduate program at UNC-Chapel Hill affords some students the opportunity to work as a crafts artisan on one of the mainstage productions for PlayMakers Repertory Company. Typically this happens in their second and third years, as in the first year they usually do a show working as my assistant.
When i design a mainstage show, a student--usually in their second year--will serve as the crafts artisan, where they may have a degree of autonomy over the position but still have some direct mentorship. In the third year, if a student has a particular interest in crafts as a career specialization, they are afforded a broader sense of professional responsibility and work as my co-craftsperson on a large craft-heavy show.
Such is the case with our forthcoming production of The Imaginary Invalid, for which third-year graduate student Adrienne Corral is serving as the production's dyer/painter, and overseeing the production of one of the crafts builds. At this point in her graduate study, Adrienne has served as my assistant on a show, worked as production crafts artisan on last season's The Parchman Hour (which i designed), and has completed the series of four crafts classes which i teach. In addition to her academic work, she has spent two summers working as a craftsperson at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and one summer in the same position at Glimmerglass Opera. Adrienne intends to work as a dyer/painter after graduation, hence her duties on this upcoming show.
This post is the first in a two-part series, chronicling Adrienne's process for making lizard skin samples for a character who has a reptile tail. (It's a new translation of the Moliere script--if you don't remember a reptile man in the show, you're not missing something! He's not specified in the original.)
Take a look at the research images our designer sent for reference:
Research image for color provided by costume designer Sonya Berlovitz
Research image for texture provided by costume designer Sonya Berlovitz
Research image for texture provided by costume designer Sonya Berlovitz
Research image for texture provided by costume designer Sonya Berlovitz
Adrienne decided to create a range of different samples of surface design effects to share with our designer. She is creating the samples using a technique of applying silicone caulk to spandex fabric while it is stretched, then allowing it to cure before unstretching it. This technique is called gicking and was invented by Janet Bloor of EuroCo Costumes in NYC.
The first step in making samples is to stitch up a bunch of spandex into stretchy "pillowcases," to be stretched over stretching boards. The boards are cut from homosote and covered with clear vinyl, to which the silicone will not bond. The boards must be carefully sized so that when the "pillowcases" are pulled over them, the spandex stretches as much as possible.
Adrienne chose to do some samples on plain fabric, and some which she had painted using the paint techniques learned from Broadway fabric painter Margaret Peot.
Various paint effects on green spandex by Adrienne Corral
Various paint effects on white spandex by Adrienne Corral
Adrienne applies masking to one of the sample boards.
A masking pattern for an effect called Reptile
A masking pattern variation for an effect called Reptile
How will all of this turn into lizard skin? Well, i hate to leave you on a cliffhanger, but that'll have to wait for next week and Part Two of this post! In the meantime, we have a show to open this weekend...
When i design a mainstage show, a student--usually in their second year--will serve as the crafts artisan, where they may have a degree of autonomy over the position but still have some direct mentorship. In the third year, if a student has a particular interest in crafts as a career specialization, they are afforded a broader sense of professional responsibility and work as my co-craftsperson on a large craft-heavy show.
Such is the case with our forthcoming production of The Imaginary Invalid, for which third-year graduate student Adrienne Corral is serving as the production's dyer/painter, and overseeing the production of one of the crafts builds. At this point in her graduate study, Adrienne has served as my assistant on a show, worked as production crafts artisan on last season's The Parchman Hour (which i designed), and has completed the series of four crafts classes which i teach. In addition to her academic work, she has spent two summers working as a craftsperson at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and one summer in the same position at Glimmerglass Opera. Adrienne intends to work as a dyer/painter after graduation, hence her duties on this upcoming show.
This post is the first in a two-part series, chronicling Adrienne's process for making lizard skin samples for a character who has a reptile tail. (It's a new translation of the Moliere script--if you don't remember a reptile man in the show, you're not missing something! He's not specified in the original.)
Take a look at the research images our designer sent for reference:
Research image for color provided by costume designer Sonya Berlovitz
Research image for texture provided by costume designer Sonya Berlovitz
Research image for texture provided by costume designer Sonya Berlovitz
Research image for texture provided by costume designer Sonya Berlovitz
Adrienne decided to create a range of different samples of surface design effects to share with our designer. She is creating the samples using a technique of applying silicone caulk to spandex fabric while it is stretched, then allowing it to cure before unstretching it. This technique is called gicking and was invented by Janet Bloor of EuroCo Costumes in NYC.
The first step in making samples is to stitch up a bunch of spandex into stretchy "pillowcases," to be stretched over stretching boards. The boards are cut from homosote and covered with clear vinyl, to which the silicone will not bond. The boards must be carefully sized so that when the "pillowcases" are pulled over them, the spandex stretches as much as possible.
Adrienne chose to do some samples on plain fabric, and some which she had painted using the paint techniques learned from Broadway fabric painter Margaret Peot.
Various paint effects on green spandex by Adrienne Corral
Various paint effects on white spandex by Adrienne Corral
Adrienne applies masking to one of the sample boards.
A masking pattern for an effect called Reptile
A masking pattern variation for an effect called Reptile
How will all of this turn into lizard skin? Well, i hate to leave you on a cliffhanger, but that'll have to wait for next week and Part Two of this post! In the meantime, we have a show to open this weekend...
