While I have had few opportunities to design for dance, the percentage of new productions within the is low. Many story ballets have full scenic elements, it is often as part of t heir preexisting repertory or rented.
One day, I hope to design full story ballet(Giselle, Copellia, Swan Lake, Firebird) but until then enjoy some unrealized Photoshop musings.
The first few of these are exploring follow up on the earlier Lamp series. Arabesque under light!
Credits
Dancer: Ainsley Sorenson
Photo by Rachel Neville - stunning work at her website https://portfolio.rachelneville.com/index
A Grand Jete under a Fascinating Chandelier!
Credits
Dancer Maria Barroso in Coppelia
Costume Designer Osbert Lancaster
Photo by Fanny Schertzer
The next image is a hypothetical Window display- which might be a bit “The Twilight Zone” but still festive.
Credits
Dancer Tempe Ostergren -The Nutcracker
Costume designer Holly Hynes - https://www.hollyhynes.com
Photo by Rosalie O’conner
Side article mention to Rosalie O’conner https://blog.balletaz.org/photographing-ballet-with-rosalie-oconnor/
The last few of these explorations are follow up on the earlier Lamp series.
While I did find the dancer image on a public domain, free use site called https://www.pickpik.com/ballet-swan-lake-ballerina-dance-swan-elegance-124497 , I tried to figure out the dancer/designer/photographer info to no avail. It’s clearly a Swan Lake but???
That is all for now
Changes are a thing.
So, the last post had a few paint elevations that needed to change after talking with creative team. I will say that being able to makes changes quickly in Photoshop has been a huge upside in my process. In my past process, it would have meant reprinting all the drafting and starting from scratch. Not terrible, just time consuming. I also really love sitting at home with the family by the fire as I crank out these elevations.
I did want to highlight the Canon ip8720 printer I used to turn in the Paint elevations to the shop . https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/printers/inkjet-single-function/ip-series/ip8720/pixma-ip8720. I had never used this printer before, an I found it to create some amazing results.
All elevations were printed on 13X19” Canon matte photo paper.
I will add, that every time I need to print something, the printer always seems to be “Low on Ink”. so after doing a full restock of ink, I was set to “Print”.
Below I will highlight some of the changes that I made prior to submitting the final Paint Elevations.
First up are the Towers, which did not have any changes to them, I just needed to show all sides in the elevations.
Next is the Deck, which due to budget and build constraints, became a rectangular shape utilizing more of our stock platforms.
Old Deck Paint Elevation
New Deck Paint Elevation
The Scaffold did not significantly change, but I did adjust the opacity of a few layers to get a darker finish.
The Pillory did not change other than just adding a few more shadows and cutlines to define the piece more.
Big changes with the Bed and Cradle…..
Old Bed and Cradle Paint Elevations
New Bed and Cradle Paint Elevations
Also big changes with the Tree Canopies….
Old Tree Canopy Paint Elevations
New Tree Canopy Paint Elevations
no major change to the Bench Paint Elevation, mainly since I had forgotten to do one!
Enjoy!
It has been a minute!!! Finally! I have been working through some paint elevations for a upcoming production of the opera The Scarlet Letter. This work by Lori Laitman and David Mason is relatively new. http://www.scarletletteropera.com
The Opera had its world premiere, directed by Beth Greenberg https://www.directorbeth.com/untitled-c136u back in 2016 at Opera Colorado. Beth Greenburg will be directing our version at the University of Oklahoma in February.
Who doesn’t love a good Pillory
Working on these larger than life Towers/Columns that are also light boxes.
Tree canopy with Rose lights? You had me at “Rose lights!”
Scaffold
Stay tuned.. more to come
