BROAD EFFECTS
The amateur artist who sets out to paint a piece of scenery for the first time in his life will probably be far too painstaking in his work, or rather he will take the wrong kind of trouble over it. He must remember that all his work is to be viewed at a distance and under very peculiar conditions. There is a blaze of light from the ground upward and from the sky downward, and frequently from both sides of the stage. Therefore it is useless for the amateur scenic artist to work as though he were painting a picture. He must always bear in mind what his work will look like when it is lit up on the stage. He is strongly advised to begin at first with broad effects and to watch, if possible, to see what effect his first work has when it is lit up on a stage, before he goes on to anything more ambitious.
A simple plan for an amateur who is working in the dark, so to speak, is to proceed in this way. Let him get hold of an old scrap of scenery and copy it as though he were drawing a picture of it. Then let him put in the lights and shades, and he will soon see for himself how to procure the effects demanded in stage scenery. His chief fault will probably lie in a failure to appreciate the effect of what he is painting when it is presented in stage light: he will probably think that there is too great a contrast in his lights and shadows, but he must remember that the stage lights have a softening effect on such contrasts, and therefore in a stage picture they must be over-emphasised. The amateur actor is usually just as nervous about overdoing his make-up, because he does not take into consideration the effect that the stage lights have on a face that is not made up. The most unbecoming little shadows are cast upon the face, and one of the secrets of making-up well is to ‘allow’ for these by means of grease paints applied in such a way that the complexion seems to be entirely natural.
The scenic artist must therefore remember that his work is going to be judged under circumstances very different from those under which it is done, and he must make allowances for that fact, otherwise his scenery will be grotesque. After all, very few scenes, especially out-of-door scenes, in theatres, are really life-like. They suggest the open-air scene rather than depict it.