Backdrop - Houston Skylines

[ocalicreek]

Gary,

I know you're dead set against photo cut-outs, but I don't think the edges would give you the trouble you think they might since you are dealing with sharp corners and straight edges. It's the color and light values that may be the troublesome part - getting them to match what you've already painted. Perhaps some blue/gray washes could serve to blend them in.

Even so, I think you could pull it off using printouts of the structures cut and pasted to the backdrop, then painted low-level structures on a single strip of matte board pasted to the backdrop overtop of the skyscrapers, along the bottom edge of course.

Galen

[Gary S]

I find it at Michaels. Tell ya what though...I have a sheet of stuff and a scrap piece of white shelf board. I'll shoot some spray paint and see how it turns out. I suspect bil's assessment might be right but I'm curious to see how it works.

Alright! I'm looking forward to the results of this experiment.

On the white buildings in the Greenway Plaza photo, the windows measure about 3/64ths inch wide and 1/16 inch tall. The white lines in between the windows are all about 3/64th inch.

[Gary S]

I know you're dead set against photo cut-outs,

You're pretty good at reading between the lines.... I'll give it a go with paint, we'll see what it looks like, and if need be, I'll paint over it and try something else. It is always good to hear alternate views and techniques, and you never know, they may come in handy.

[Mr Fixit]

Gary

Can I suggest that you do some sample boards of each of the techniques, that way you can compare each technique in person as well as via photos and discussion here.

All in all a most interesting thread.

Mark

[Gary S]

Hey Mark, I could give it a try. Right now, the photos were printed on plain printer paper. A spray glue would probably work without making the ink run. But what other paper do you recommend? Some matte photo paper? Would there be any issues with the colored ink from the printer ever fading?

[Ralph]

Well, the results are pretty rough. I imagine an airbrush might do a much better job. I used an ordinary can of spray paint. You can see where I applied it too heavily because I had trouble seeing color in the little squares at first. The "windows" are 1/8 inch squares separated by 1/16th of an inch. I dunno, maybe it has some potential.....

[Gary S]

Ralph, as a first try, that came out pretty good. Do they make that "scrim" in different size patterns? Thanks for giving that a try. It definitely holds promise.

[Ralph]

Gary, I'm afraid I haven 't seen other sizes...lots of other colors...but all the same size, unfortunately.

[Gary S]

It would be great if it came in different sizes. I'm afraid that if it was used for several buildings beside each other, it would be too uniform. Also, the 1/8" windows are a bit big for the size of buildings I am considering. Hey, but we have the ol' noggins working, and that is good!

[MasonJar]

It might be a pain, but you could cut the horizontals and/or verticals to vary the size. For example, one of the buildings in your photos looks like it has long horizontal windows that could be made by cutting out two or three verticals.

Andrew

[Tom]

I would grid it off with pinstripers masking tape. The really thin stuff. Look at better hardware stores or paint stores. You might be surprised at the variety of sizes available.

[Gary S]

Thanks Tom. That sounds like exactly what I need. I'll do some searching on the net.

[ngaugingnut]

It would be great if it came in different sizes. I'm afraid that if it was used for several buildings beside each other, it would be too uniform. Also, the 1/8" windows are a bit big for the size of buildings I am considering. Hey, but we have the ol' noggins working, and that is good!

Gary, what about window screening for varying the window sizes? Or hardware cloth (galvanized wire that is welded together into a grid shape) - you can get this in various grid sizes at most hardware stores.

As others have said, another very interesting thread! Good luck with this new backdrop.

[Gary S]

Thanks NGN, for the ideas and the compliments. I figure I'll end up using the "pinstripers tape" to do the windows.

The more we discuss this, the more anxious I become to get started.

[P5se Camelback]

Pin stripers' tape ... Automotive paint supply store!