Double sided backdrop, depending on

I was thinking today as I was wandering around our stage if it would be possible to paint both sides of a backdrop, and alternate between which one could be seen. For example, if it was lit from behind, you would see that backdrop, and if it was lit from the front you would see the other. I was just wondering if this would be at all possible, as it would be very helpful!

Regards and thanks,

Dan
 
That's entirely possible, and an established technique called a translucency drop. Takes a skilled painter and light touch, and there are some limits to the extent to which you can make the front image disappear, but you can create some cool effects. For instance, IIRC it was the original production of South Pacific that had a mountain scape painted on the front and storm clouds on the back, so that when the backlights were added storm clouds appeared over the mountains.
 
Yup, as said above, its done fairly often. You won't get an image to really come through, but you can play with shadow a bit. It also works really well if you have a drop that is half sky/half land and you can really make the sky pop by backpainting the land part and keep the sky portion translucent.
 
This has been done for hundreds of years. Some of the "Old School" versions can still be seen in some of the scenery and effects in Masonic temple rites. One of the most famous is the "Volcano" trick. The rear of the drop is painted first. The mountain is painted like a black and white photo negative. Solid opaque black where the "Lava" is not. Bright red and orange aniline dye where the lava is over flowing the top and running down the sides. The sky is laid in with various streaks of glowing red and highlights on the lower edges of the clouds, the top edges of the clouds are again, opaque black. The dyes and rear painting is "set" with boiled starch mixed in with dye and paint and the front is covered with a very thin coat of starch "size water" to seal it. Next the front of the drop is painted in a thin water color style as a daylight mountain scene with blue skies and white clouds. The mountain and clouds on the front and back must align exactly. The final part of the trick is to cross fade from a steep, neutral color, down light wash from the front to a VERY bright straight on, back light, often in different colors to enhance different areas of the drop. Last but not least is a piece of board (plywood or luan today) covering the mountain from the back. As the effect continues, the board is slowly lowered and the look from the front is that the lava is running down the mountain in slow rivers of molten rock.
 
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Okai, well i've been thinking about trying to fit this into our night at the musicals show and i've kind of figured out how.

On one side of the cloth im planning on painting a clear blue sky with a few clouds and on the back painting some form of land. Therefore when the backlight is removed it is as if they are in the air, ideal for chitty chitty bang bang.

Will this work? and are there any tips for it?

Cheers.
 
What you have described "CAN" work, how well depends on what you really want and of course, your execution. I strongly suggest you get a 4' square of the same material the drop is/will be, frame it like a soft flat, and do a couple of trials. As far as technique, think transparent water color as a style of painting, very watered Rosco super sat can work well for this as well as several other highly saturated paint types. Anything thick or dark on the back will only show through as a silhouette. In this case I think I would paint the "sky" front first, making sure you have a reasonable amount of boiled Argo starch mixed into the paint mix. Allow to dry a couple of days, longer if there is high humidity in your area. Flip the drop, spray on a medium thick coat of Boiled Argo starch size water and let thoroughly dry, 2-3 days. Then paint your back scene. Trust me, the dry time is VERY important. HTH!
 

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