03-01-2011, 10:23 PM
I continued working on the backdrop this evening, moving to the right of the Chase bank building to the bayou. I don't usually do mock-ups when modeling, I typically dive right in and hope like crazy that it will turn out right. But so far, the backdrop has been a different story.... I have been doing some mock-ups, I suppose because I am in no way an artist, trying to make 2 dimensions look like three. I'm also finding that when dealing with perspective, mere millimeters will make a huge difference in the backdrop appearance.
On to the bayou... it goes pretty much straight across the layout, however it does have a couple minor curves, one at the front and one at the back as will be seen in the photos. For the experiments, I cut paper to fit down along the layout/backdrop junction, then made various attmepts at drawing what I envisioned the backdrop should be.
First photo, I tried minimal water. I think the small amount of water works, but the bayou looks to take a drastic left curve that would go under the building painted on the backdrop.
Second photo, I tried putting more water in, but left the top of the concrete slope where it was. This did give the effect that the bayou ran further back, but it still had the "sharp left curve" right past the shelf. It still looks like it would run under the building.
At this point, I figured out that it wasn't the water that was the problem, it was that the top part of the concrete was running horizontal. So, I tried curving the top of the concrete by raising it on the left and then slanting down to the right so the bayou looks like it goes further back into the scene. But now the concrete on the backdrop looks like it is higher up than the painted building's foundation. Not good! What to do now???? It dawned on me that the problem was the height of the concrete on the layout, pointed out byy the yellow arrow in the photo.
So, continuing the experiment, I began wondering if I could actually begin the perspective on the layout. I took some brown paper, and covered over the concrete, sort of sloping it down towards the backdrop. This can be seen in the next photo, the brown paper is covering about 1/4" of the concrete. The brown paper actually starts even with the top of the concrete, then slopes down to the backdrop. This would allow the top of the concrete on the backdrop to slope, yet still be lower than the painted building:
The last two photos are variations on the theme. I'll keep working on this to get it as good as it can be.
Being that it always helps to have stuff blocking the layout/backdrop junction, I may put a pipeline or two coming out of the ground and crossing over the bayou, with some supports. biL had posted photos of these awhile back. We also have plenty of those in Houston.
In retrospect, I wish I would have made the entire model bayou with some perspective, everything slightly less wide in the back. This would have helped the illusion. I also could have done that with South Wayside street.
I am interested in comments and suggestions before I paint this for real. Anyone?
On to the bayou... it goes pretty much straight across the layout, however it does have a couple minor curves, one at the front and one at the back as will be seen in the photos. For the experiments, I cut paper to fit down along the layout/backdrop junction, then made various attmepts at drawing what I envisioned the backdrop should be.
First photo, I tried minimal water. I think the small amount of water works, but the bayou looks to take a drastic left curve that would go under the building painted on the backdrop.
Second photo, I tried putting more water in, but left the top of the concrete slope where it was. This did give the effect that the bayou ran further back, but it still had the "sharp left curve" right past the shelf. It still looks like it would run under the building.
At this point, I figured out that it wasn't the water that was the problem, it was that the top part of the concrete was running horizontal. So, I tried curving the top of the concrete by raising it on the left and then slanting down to the right so the bayou looks like it goes further back into the scene. But now the concrete on the backdrop looks like it is higher up than the painted building's foundation. Not good! What to do now???? It dawned on me that the problem was the height of the concrete on the layout, pointed out byy the yellow arrow in the photo.
So, continuing the experiment, I began wondering if I could actually begin the perspective on the layout. I took some brown paper, and covered over the concrete, sort of sloping it down towards the backdrop. This can be seen in the next photo, the brown paper is covering about 1/4" of the concrete. The brown paper actually starts even with the top of the concrete, then slopes down to the backdrop. This would allow the top of the concrete on the backdrop to slope, yet still be lower than the painted building:
The last two photos are variations on the theme. I'll keep working on this to get it as good as it can be.
Being that it always helps to have stuff blocking the layout/backdrop junction, I may put a pipeline or two coming out of the ground and crossing over the bayou, with some supports. biL had posted photos of these awhile back. We also have plenty of those in Houston.
In retrospect, I wish I would have made the entire model bayou with some perspective, everything slightly less wide in the back. This would have helped the illusion. I also could have done that with South Wayside street.
I am interested in comments and suggestions before I paint this for real. Anyone?