talkmagic.co.uk

is there a company who paints illusions profesionally?
Instead of me just using paint, and spoiling it?

Jack

in which way would you spoil it?

daleshrimpton wrote:in which way would you spoil it?

I don't know really, but I thought it would look more professional if it was done by a profesional painter, so it looked proper.

Jack x

Have a word with a decorator, I'm sure he'd be able to do it for you.

firstly.. obtain a copy of teh hadies book " the make up of magic". If you manage to mess up after reading this book, theres no hope. It gives just about every secret there is to painitng Ilusions, from Glazes and paints, to optical Ilusion techniques on bases ect.


As long as you prepair the surface of the timber first, and use good brushes, and the correct paints, then you will get a good end result. normaly paint chips off Ilusions, because rather than applying several thin layers, one or two thick coats have been applied, and this is why the work looks rubbish.

dont go for a fussy design, as these will blur inlt a mess at a short distance. remember that the usual thing is to have large areas of solid colours, which look good and clean from the audience.

as an example of good design, look at early versions of the Zig Zag. that geometric lady on the front, really stood out, and at the same time, detracts from the hidden secrets, all of which were hidden by paintwork, and design.

as i say, the Micky Hadies book, really should be your first port of call. Its out of print, but worth its weight in gold.

Dale kind of beat me to the punch, I was going to suggest the Paul Osborne books which will give you similar insights as well as some very sound construction tips.

Unless you are totally inane painting magic is relatively simple; the rule of thumb being that the area you want them to see you paint glossy or in brighter colors and the area you need to disguise so as to create added depiction to depth and general thickness, you use flat paints and/or light absorbing fabrics. Understand however, not all black trim is flat. Sometimes the use of a gloss black trim adds to things.

Remember that to "trim" an area backs it look larger and to give a line of focus that runs just off center, narrows the look of a base; causing it to look much thinner than it really is... needless to say, you never run trim across the bottom of a base.

If you have a piece, like a Zig Zag, there is a modern way of doing things as well; Create the paint job as you want it on a scale sized frame inside your PC. You can then send this image to a printing company that makes large lamminents (sp) out of thin vinyl... this stuff is super tough and can be carefully applied to the device of choice... I know of a UK based company that does this for cars used in special promotions, such as the Austin Powers Brit Flag look on his car.

Dale is right when he talks about preparing the timber or mdf or whatever properly. The more work you put in at this stage, the better the end result.

Personally I start with using car body filler to fill any edges, seams, screw or nail holes and then sand the whole thing as smooth as possible (cheapest hand sander from B&Q's is just the ticket). Get rid of all dust with damp cloth and then wipe everything down with some whit spirit to remove any greasy finger marks.

Next, seal the object with shellac, sanding sealer, or similar - a good couple of coats, and then get the hand sander out again (with fine grit sandpaper) and smooth it over (to get rid of unwanted brush marks).

Now you can think about painting.... Get down to the car/diy shop and buy a spray can of grey acrylic primer (you could use white, but the grey gives a much better coverage). Go out in the garden or shed and give the prop at least two coats of primer, and when it's dry sand it really smooth with some fine, wet and dry sandpaper (using plenty of water). It should now have a wonderful, glassy surface with no holes, cracks or blemishes (if it has, just use some filler and respray and sand that area).

Next comes the colour.... Acrylic car body spray paint again.... Build up the colour slowly with thin layers of paint and working from left to right and top to bottom. Once you're happy with this, leave it to dry and harden for a day or so. (nearly there....)

Elbow grease time as you use T-Cut and some soft cloths to polish the living daylights out of the paint finish (not too hard though or you'll go right through the paint layer.... and it's back to the beginning if that happens). Then depending on the finish you want, spray the entire thing with matt or gloss acrylic or polyurethane lacquer (even if you want a matt finish, spray on at least one coat of gloss first as this is much tougher and will ensure your prop lasts longer). This last layer of lacquer can also be polished to dazzling brightness using T-Cut, Silvo or even toothpaste...

Multiple colours and patterns should always be masked off before painting using.... surprisingly enough.... masking tape and careful scalpel work (a handy tip when using masking tape is to lightly press it against your t-shirt before use to remove some of the tackiness... it'll then peel off far easier)

Obviously you don't have to follow all or any of this.... But even just using a decent smooth roller instead of a brush (the weapon of last resort!!) will yield good results (I'm just a 'paint finish' snob I'm afraid....). Anyway, PM me if you decide to have a bash at it...