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labricoleuseOne technique that a painter/dyer can employ to subtly improve the look of stage costumes is called toning, painting into the garment or piece to increase the contrast and value, to enhance its contours and make it "punch" under stage lights. Often, lighting will flatten textural elements but judicious toning can counterbalance that.
Wayback ages ago, i wrote about some livery wigs in our stock, made from roving. To illustrate how toning works, here's a comparison: the wig on the left is left natural, whereas the wig on the right has been toned:
side view
back view
For this specific instance, i used a Preval aerosol sprayer to apply watered-down acrylic to the wig to enhance the appearance of the rolls of hair. I chose this because i had an extremely quick turnaround time and i had the Preval with paint in the chamber at-hand already. In an ideal universe, i probably would have instead chosen to employ the airbrush, but i had to tone this ASAP and put it in front of a fan as it was. (This wig is worn by Salieri's Valet in the 1830s scenes in our current production of Amadeus.)
Wayback ages ago, i wrote about some livery wigs in our stock, made from roving. To illustrate how toning works, here's a comparison: the wig on the left is left natural, whereas the wig on the right has been toned:
side view
back view
For this specific instance, i used a Preval aerosol sprayer to apply watered-down acrylic to the wig to enhance the appearance of the rolls of hair. I chose this because i had an extremely quick turnaround time and i had the Preval with paint in the chamber at-hand already. In an ideal universe, i probably would have instead chosen to employ the airbrush, but i had to tone this ASAP and put it in front of a fan as it was. (This wig is worn by Salieri's Valet in the 1830s scenes in our current production of Amadeus.)
