# Painting ChromaDepth 3D Wall Panels



## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

This tutorial is one of *three* tutorials showing how to make a 3D ChromaDepth section for your haunt. The other two tutorials are _(currently being written):_ 

Designing 3D ChromaDepth
Building Haunt Wall Panels
Well, here is *Painting ChromaDepth 3D Wall Panels:*





 







*Following, is a general outline covering what was in the video along with additional details:*











_These pictures were designed in Photoshop. The theme this year was inspired by the movie Terminator: Salvation. _

_A tip is to search for ideas in comic books. They are perfect for ChromaDepth illusions. They have lots of action and are bordered in black. Using Photoshop or a similar program, take bits of the art and mash around on a new background until the picture looks right to you. Finally, work up a ChromaDepth color scheme that makes them pop under the 3D ChromaDepth glasses. _

_Here's a quick slide show showing the creation of one of the .jpgs in Photoshop: http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/...n=view&current=SmallSlideshowattacksnakes.flv_

_As you can tell, I went back several times and remade some stuff. For example, I realized I needed a background to give me depth, so I added the barrels. Also, the forward robot-snake needed to be redder. When you are deciding on ChromaDepth, be sure to have the glasses on to see the changes._



_In the picture above, you'll notice a B&W version of the .jpg that was created. It is loaded onto a computer which is attached to a projector._

















_Project the image onto your wall panel. This will help you transfer the design easily. _

_If you are using fabric (or landscape fabric like what's being used here) the image must be primed with gesso first. Artists prime fabric canvases so their expensive pigment paint doesn't get sucked into the fabric. You use gesso to stop that. Plus, white gesso is a perfect background color for fluorescent paint. It helps make it pop and you'll use less. _

_The gesso I'm using is a recipe I made up. It's not a real gesso mix but it's works good enough for me. Generally, it's 1 gallon of Sculpt or Coat, 1 1/2 gallons of cheap ceiling latex paint plus a tube of white acrylic to pump up the white (I'm still tweaking this recipe). When painting, use a 1" flat brush for large areas and a 1/2" brush for tight spots. You just paint any light that's on the canvas with gesso._




















_After the first coat of gesso dries, do a second coat. One coat won't be enough. Here you see the coverage a second coat gives you._




















_For the third coat of gesso you will need to Photoshop that B&W .jpg a bit. Expand the subject area with more white. This allows you to have subtle color shading show without sacrificing the detail lines in it. You will still be able to make it out. Project the new B&W .jpg onto the wall panel and do a third coat of gesso. _

_It is now ready for fluorescent paint._


















_This step is called 'color-blocking'. Just like coloring books, you are simply painting in the colors from the drawing you made. It will take several coats depending on the fluorescent paint you use and the ratio of thinning for your airbrush. You will generally do 3 to 4 coats. _

_I use WildFire fluorescent paint thinned down with a ratio of 50% paint/35% Illustration Base/15% water. At times, I found this ratio too thick and so was watered down even more. This all depends on the type of air brush and air pressure you use._











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_Here you will be airbrushing black lines and shading. Look for the hints of lines left behind from the third gesso coat and airbrush in with black. Sometimes it will be hard to see the hints and you will be referring to your jpg image. Also look for the shadings you had in the .jpg image and duplicate that. _

_I used regular black airbrush paint without thinning for this step._



















_Final step. Have all of your paintbrush colors ready and the black. Begin to blend and add other colors that you haven't been able to do thus far. You will be referring heavily to your .jpg image for this. Under black light and wearing the 3D glasses keep adding colors and shadings until it starts to match your design. Though a challenging step, it's also very fun to see the dramatic changes you will be doing here._






















_TADA! You are done and ready to terrify your ToTs. Time to drink some celebratory wine. whew!_


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## Eyegore (Aug 23, 2008)

The depth you created using the blue paint is really nice! Great Job Terra! I've always wondered how to do Chromadepth painting before. I suppose that the red is the closest and the blue is the farthest away...Is this right? 

This effect can even be taken farther with a dot-room like effect. or even projection effects. Cool. I'll have to look into chromadepth a little more. Are you using any UV lights on the paint?


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## bobzilla (Nov 15, 2008)

Awesome job !


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Thanks Bobzilla!



Eyegor said:


> The depth you created using the blue paint is really nice! Great Job Terra! I've always wondered how to do ChromaDepth painting before. I suppose that the red is the closest and the blue is the farthest away...Is this right?
> 
> This effect can even be taken farther with a dot-room like effect. or even projection effects. Cool. I'll have to look into ChromaDepth a little more. Are you using any UV lights on the paint?


Thank you 

Yes, red seems to hover two feet in front of the panel and blue appears to back two feet behind the panel. The effect really knocks you for a loop. Also, yes I am using UV lights much of the time I'm painting.


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## Winklesun (Nov 1, 2008)

EXCELLENT!!!
Thanks


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## cylonfrogqueen (Feb 13, 2008)

pushing the "like" button ! Great Job Miss Terra!


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## MikeBru (Jul 30, 2009)

wow! And wow on your stick-to-it-ness, that had to take a lot of time. Would love to see it in person.


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 30, 2008)

There were chromadepth glasses in the paper today (for a verizon ad), so now I can finally appreciate your work! This is such a cool effect!
The ad in the paper was kinda sorta 3D if you're looking for it, but I think you've really got it down, Terra


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## Jmurdock (May 13, 2010)

WOW! Your work is amazing. You make the airbrushing look so easy. (ha! I've tried it and you've got serious skills)


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

So glad everyone likes the panels and I appreciate all the compliments


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## HalloweenHaunter (Jul 8, 2010)

I reall dont have the money to spend on the wildfire paints do you know if there are any other brands of paints that are a bit cheeper like less then $50 per gallon? 

P.S. Do you think fluorescent tempra paint that you would buy from Michaels or even Krylon fluorescent spray paint would work?


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## Winklesun (Nov 1, 2008)

*cheaper paint*

I used neon craft paint. I guess if you figure out price by the gallon it still isn't really cheap but it was a lot cheaper than wildfire and looked okay.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

That's fantastic Winklesun!!!!














*HalloweenHaunter:* Here's a company that is about $80 a gallon. Many of the pro haunts use this paint. It's called DayGlo. The Darkness uses this and saw it up front and looks great. I found out about it after I got the Wildfire. Here's a link: http://www.dayglostore.com/catalog_browse.asp?parNbr=570

Remember, you thin these paints by half when putting it through an airbrush so it's like you are getting 2 gallons for the price of one.





.


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## Yubney (Sep 14, 2009)

Unless I missed the part of the post is it safe to assume using complimentary colors is a vital part of making the "pop"?


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## Winklesun (Nov 1, 2008)

Thanks Terra. Couldn't have done it without your help!


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Yubney said:


> Unless I missed the part of the post is it safe to assume using complimentary colors is a vital part of making the "pop"?


 
Not really the rule but I guess that works. If the colors are contrasting they naturally would have different depths if you had the glasses on.

Basically red advances and blue recedes with the other colors in between. In this video I talk about the theory and kind of _'the rules'_ using colors to get a great ChromaDepth illusion:


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## deoblo (Apr 9, 2010)

Awsome video .... and that makes it all make more sense thanks terra just have to get more money for the paint .....LOL


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## joepolicy (Sep 19, 2008)

I am interested in doing some blacklght panels for an office haunt this year - apparently, the building owners frown on painting the walls for some reason. And, no, ClearNeon is not an option! Since I have the luxury of taping the landscape fabric to existing walls, I will not need to build the frames.

I do not have a lot of storage space at home, so I was wondering if the combination of gesso and Wildfire paint is flexible? What I would like to do is paint the 4' X 8' sheets and when they are dry, stack them and loosely roll them up. Obviously, if the paints are not flexible, I will end up with a big, flaked up mess. I know there are some other paint options with less impact then the Wildfire like Rosco, Createx and Dayglo. I would be interested in knowing if there are more flexible paint options that would let me roll up my finished panels if Wildfire will not work.

Thanks!

Joe


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Yes, they are flexible. If you roll them up with a cardboard carpet roll or something similar you will be fine. I've tested the flexibility myself and the only time I could get it to crack was _(and only really thick coatings of paint)_ when it was folded and then flattened. Or freeze it and then fold in half. In other words don't store these in a garage during the winter. Even with those two situations, the paint did not crack off, just left a crease. Now, this is with landscape fabric. Not sure about sheets but should still be okay. 

The gesso I'm now using is this so hoping to have even better results this year: http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_product.cfm?item=5102


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## joepolicy (Sep 19, 2008)

Terra,

Many thanks for the confirmation - I would hate to spend all that money on the Wildfire paint only to find that it would crumble into rather expensive flakes!

Joe


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Terra,

I have looked through your threads trying to find the answer to this question but haven't seen it: How much paint did you actually use? I am debating whether to get gallons or quarts, mostly because I would hate to have a lot left and not be able to ever use it before it starts to go bad.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Screaming Demons said:


> Terra,
> 
> I have looked through your threads trying to find the answer to this question but haven't seen it: How much paint did you actually use? I am debating whether to get gallons or quarts, mostly because I would hate to have a lot left and not be able to ever use it before it starts to go bad.


Here's the tally after I painted about 25 panels. I bought the gallon containers of blue, green, yellow, dark yellow, orange and red. Bought quarts of white and purple. I have half left of﻿ blue and red. 2/3rds left of green and dark yellow. Lots of orange, yellow, purple and white left.


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Thanks for the quick response!


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## travball5 (Oct 10, 2010)

Winklesun said:


> I used neon craft paint. I guess if you figure out price by the gallon it still isn't really cheap but it was a lot cheaper than wildfire and looked okay.


Hey I really like how yours turned out. What brand of paint did you use?


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## travball5 (Oct 10, 2010)

Also has anybody tried using the cheap tempera paint by sergeant art? I was just wondering because I see it all of the place and was thinking about using it. If it doesn't really work then I would rather spend more money and get something better. I'm just not sure I want to dish out $100-130 a gallon for paint with my limited art skills. haha


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## Winklesun (Nov 1, 2008)

I used Neon Craft Smart paint from Michaels craft store and also Crafters Acrylic neon from the dollar store. 
I have also used fluorescent spray paints for really large areas and even Tide liquid mixed with white paint for the blue. 
The tempera paint (elmers brand and funstuff) needs lots of coats painted on with a brush and shouldn't be where it might be exposed to moisture.


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## creeperguardian (Aug 22, 2011)

Was the third coat added to where the out lines and detail lines are? and to make some colors darker did you just add a bit of black to the paint?


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## creeperguardian (Aug 22, 2011)

how many colors did you use?


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

creeperguardian said:


> Was the third coat added to where the out lines and detail lines are? and to make some colors darker did you just add a bit of black to the paint?


Yes. I don't add black to the paints to make them darker. I use black and lightly airbrush over it to shade and darken. 



creeperguardian said:


> how many colors did you use?


I use red, blue, yellow, green, bright yellow, lime green, clay, brown, black, white, purple, fushia, orange and flesh color. Purchased paints are Deep Yellow, Blue, Green, Bright Yellow, Orange, Fushia, Purple, Optical White, Black and Red. The rest are mixes of those paints. To save money I'd recommend just buying the primary colors and trying to mix the other colors yourself (like orange and green, etc.).


While I'm here I'd like to post the updated version of the tutorial video. I've found some great time-savers:


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## creeperguardian (Aug 22, 2011)

The video helps alot thanks oh and Do you know if i used canvas drop cloth over the landscape fabric would i still have to use gesso?. Because my thinking is that if i would not need the gesso i could blow up the image with a projector onto the panel i make and start using black and out line everything and fill just have to color in where the black in in the back ground area.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

creeperguardian said:


> The video helps alot thanks oh and Do you know if i used canvas drop cloth over the landscape fabric would i still have to use gesso?. Because my thinking is that if i would not need the gesso i could blow up the image with a projector onto the panel i make and start using black and out line everything and fill just have to color in where the black in in the back ground area.


It depends on the canvas so do a test to see how much the canvas sucks up your fluorescent paint. If it doesn't then you are golden! Stuartizm: http://www.stuartizm-online.info/ told me he orders black fabric from RoseBrand and that would save you from having to paint black in the background. Not sure if this is what he uses _(canvas or muslin and it's weight)_ but it'll give you an idea: http://www.rosebrand.com/product551/Muslin-126-Heavy-Weight-Black-NFR.aspx?tid=2&info=black+muslin I've shied away from using real fabric because of the cost and the weight. I need those panels to be extremely lightweight. 

For some colors you want to use white as a base first. If you want vivid reds, yellows and oranges it really make them pop. Remember that fluorescent paint is somewhat translucent. But depends on the effect you want. Sometimes subtle reds, yellows etc. is needed in the art.


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## creeperguardian (Aug 22, 2011)

Oh ok thank you so much


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

You don't need to use canvas over the landscape fabric, just the canvas. Canvas can also be ordered in different colors - black, white and natural (tan).


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## vonroll (Sep 5, 2006)

For those of you following this thread and looking for paints, I found some excellent paint at Jerry's Artarama. I even took a tiny battery-powered black light with me to the store to check the luminescence. They are on sale for half off right now, which makes it even better. They are Lukas brand made in Germany / 250ML. I expect to thin them by at least half for my airbrush. I just played last night with a black canvas and in a few minutes was very pleased with the results. Thanks again Terra...I've watched your painting vid a bunch in preparation. Now it's just up to the artist in me (who is in hiding) to get it done.  Oh...almost forgot... 9.89 a bottle.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Oh, very nice option. Can't wait to see how it looks and paints for you. Good luck and holler if you have any questions. FYI for anyone else - Here's the link to the Lukas paints: http://www.jerrysartarama.com/disco...-cryl-acrylics/lukas-cryl-studio-acrylics.htm


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## vonroll (Sep 5, 2006)

I put together two canvas walls this weekend in the Texas triple digit heat. Stupid I know. Anyway, I used canvas from Harbor Freight in 12x9 size for I think around $15. I wasn't aware until I unfolded it that there was a seam stitch down the middle. I don't think it will be an issue in the dark. 
Here's a vid on how they turned out. 
http://youtu.be/9jT1qA0P8gs


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

What a great idea elevating them so people can scare underneath. They are looking good so far!


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## Chewbacca (Oct 12, 2010)

vonroll said:


> I put together two canvas walls this weekend in the Texas triple digit heat. Stupid I know. Anyway, I used canvas from Harbor Freight in 12x9 size for I think around $15. I wasn't aware until I unfolded it that there was a seam stitch down the middle. I don't think it will be an issue in the dark.
> Here's a vid on how they turned out.
> http://youtu.be/9jT1qA0P8gs


You'll never notice the seam once they're painted. I use the same drop cloths for the walls in my garage haunt but mine aren't on a permanent frame. I'd never have the storage space for that large a flat. 

One thing you'll find is that the canvas will shrink when you paint it. It can exert a fair amount of force so you might want to add some temporary supports or attach your frame to a solid surface when you paint them.


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## vonroll (Sep 5, 2006)

Thanks for the advice Chewy, 
I was thinking they would firm up a bit when I got some Gesso on them. I'll let them dry flat on the floor. My attempt to run Gesso through my HVLP paint gun was a miserable failure. I'll have to get a roller or a huge brush. I thought I would knock these out quick by spraying them. I've sprayed liquid latex through this gun with success but the Gesso is thicker and stickier...or at least the stuff that's been sitting in my hot garage is.  I will most likely tear down the frame after Halloween. I have a (dangerous if you get in a hurry) pneumatic nail gun so I can build frames fairly fast.


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## vonroll (Sep 5, 2006)

Terra said:


> What a great idea elevating them so people can scare underneath. They are looking good so far!


I have an idea of putting something like this sponge on a pole and have someone push (or automate) it at the TOTs from underneath. I need to go pick up a couple or more at Target and try them out. I'm not sure, but they might fluoresce without any paint at all, but it's no problem painting them. They can sit on the floor, look like part of the panel, and suddenly move.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

That's weird enough to freak the kids out. If you wiggle it like a spider that would freak me out  

Buy a portable blacklight and drag it along on shopping excursions. You'd be surprised at how many things naturally fluoresce. If it's bright white cloth - odds are in your favor. Also, the new neon fashions of clothes you see everywhere now? Let's just say I'm a little ticked that this didn't happen the years I was haunting. Everything is now black light reactive clothing. Grrr.....


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## vonroll (Sep 5, 2006)

Terra said:


> That's weird enough to freak the kids out. If you wiggle it like a spider that would freak me out
> 
> Buy a portable blacklight and drag it along on shopping excursions. You'd be surprised at how many things naturally fluoresce. If it's bright white cloth - odds are in your favor. Also, the new neon fashions of clothes you see everywhere now? Let's just say I'm a little ticked that this didn't happen the years I was haunting. Everything is now black light reactive clothing. Grrr.....


That's just what I did when I looked at paint...of course I dropped my little battery powered blacklight and my batteries went flying across the store. It sounded like I'd broken something of the store's stock. Embarrassing.  Yeah...the sponge is like a bad Tribble.


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