Quick question guys,What color blue do you recommend for your sky color on your backdrops?Home Depot has 1,500 different colors of blue and they all look like sky blue.
Thomas, I have a Lowe's near by that I get my paint from. One of their brands is American Tradition. I use #94916 on the top third then blend in #94914 for the next third and straight #94914 for the bottom third. You could also just purchase #94914 and add white to make you sky lighter toward the horizon. These are Flat paints, no gloss or semi-gloss. Hope this helps, Jim CCRR/Socalz44
Take the color charts outside and hold them up against the sky.....pick the closest one and go one step darker. The trick is picking a day with the light quality you want to copy. Actually there's a pretty broad range of blue that will work...just stay away from the ends of the spectrum...and make sure the paint you buy is flat.
A flat color is more realistic. You don't want to draw attention to the back drop. That would happen with a semi gloss color. The back drop is part of the picture. Semi gloss paint would emphasize it.
Take a woman with you to distinquish differences between colors. It is well known that men see only the primary colors of red, green, blue and their complements. Seriously, go a little more vivid than you think is right for your sky color. When you apply the white to desaturate it as you move toward the horizon you can make the fine adjustments so that it looks right. If you go too pale to begin with you have to do much more repainting to correct it.
I picked up the utah sky color. My wife found it and it looked great under their test lights (natural, incandescent, and flourescent) I will need to add the white for the horizon stuff but it should look great. Now to figure out how to paint it. cool:
Choosing the Right Sky Color: http://csxdixieline.blogspot.com/2008/10/choosing-right-sky-color.html FYI I scrapped the two shades of blue and ended up using the lighter shade of blue exclusively. Before i start scenery, I will come back and airbrush the lower part of the backdrop with pure white to get the lighter shade at the horizon. Jamie
There is more than color, there is also saturation. The sky isn't all that saturated. Stick to the gray end of the spectrum with a little blue. The less color the better it'll look once your scenery becomes faded under the harsh fluorescent lighting of your train room. :tb-biggrin:
Tbone, You use flat because in photos the ceiling lights and flash photo lights will glare off the baseboard with glosses. Cheers, Jim CCRR/Socalz44
I've been happiest with a blurry back drop that doesn't call attention to itself. Hence, my 15-minute back drops with spray cans. My photo back drops are acceptable: the best are those that I've blown up about 25x--i.e., blurry. The worst are the panoramas I've stitched together from a series of photos and printed about 2X. They are too sharp, and detract from the scene when photographed. I've used many cans of dull coat to tone them down. As for color, mine are all over the spectrum, and not always blue. Some are stormy, some are reddish, as at dawn or dusk. I've never found a blue that I like, but I'll take some of the recommendations on this thread and keep experimenting!
I agree. Stay away from the extremes. Especially darker blues. You want a flat paint for realism. Also, semi-gloss, (depending on brand), can cause a slight reflection from your lighting. If you do any photography, can cause a good bounce back to your lens. Boxcab E50
I picked up a can of light blue Ooops paint at Home Depot. I have no idea what color it is exactly, but I just kept checking the Oops paint racks at Home depot until I found something that looked reasonably like sky. When I applied it, I mixed it with white paint toward the horizon.
How did you do the clouds? I am getting ready to paint my train room and want to make sure I get it looking good.
I strongly agree with several of the responses here that, in essence, the backdrop needs to be believable, yet almost blurry. No BRIGHT SUNNY DAY blue! Why??? Think about it... and you will come to the fact that what goes along with that is VERY STRONG unidirectional shadows... virtually impossible to replicate on your layout. One without the other just looks BAD! I highly recommend just a very, very light blue to a hazy blue/gray that will make shadows unneeded. Even in this stormy sky, you don't have to worry about shadows and which direction they need to go... You can have a clear sky though and it still can be hazy and not make you throw a lot of bright light anywhere... In this area, the storm has passed and we have clear skies, but they do NOT have to be a bright (shadow making) blue... The really important thing about backdrops is that they retain continuity with the foreground. This link shows very well what a I'm talking about — one of the best I've ever seen. Over 80 pages here to browse through — and you WILL be AMAZED at the results. This is so good, it might be overdone to the point that the backdrop is the dominant entity, but it still sure is good. Everyone browse thru this — you'll be amazed! Railroad Line Forums - Overland Green River Basin RR.- construction
Ok I bought my flat blue and some flat white.Now should I apply the white for the horizon to the blue while it is wet? As for the clouds, should I stipple them in while the blue is wet also?
I agree with the flat suggestion. The sky isn't gloss or semi-gloss, so why should your backdrop be so?
I usually apply the blue (a very light blue) at the top and work it down and stop about 2/3 the way down. Then, while its still wet, start with a little white about 1/3 the way from the top start blending the two until there is a gradual fade from blue to white (top to bottom). If you don't know how to paint clouds, templates can be purchased - or even made - to spray spray paint across that makes very realistic looking clouds. And it's very quick.
