3D Scenic Art: Marine Corps Command Museum

Its been the busiest six weeks of my career since my last post about my show at May's Ray at Night event. In addition to new mural and faux finish projects in a couple of private residences, I've had two new jobs delving into my broader skill set as a true scenic artist.

In the entertainment world (theater, film, exhibits, etc.), scenic artists not only paint, but sculpt, texture and finish constructions in whatever way called for in the overall design. I generally refer to these parts of the job as "3D" skills (as in, working in three dimensions), contrasted with the "2D" (two dimensional) realm of pure painting.

In May, working with local exhibit company Bang! Creative, I created an elaborate 3D texture for a display about tunnel warfare during the Viet Nam war for the Command Museum at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot here in San Diego.

The "tunnels" were built onsite by exhibits specialist Chuck Archuletta and the finished look designed by Chuck and Sean Laflin at Bang! Creative. I carved and textured over 400 square feet of styrofoam sheet in my studio to resemble the clay and sand soil of the Chu Chi province of Viet Nam as it would look in an excavated section.



The foam was then hardcoated and installed in sections onsite over the tunnel structure.



After filling and blending the seams of the foam pieces into the continuous horizontal bands of soil and rock, I painted the entire surface in the rich reds and purple-browns of the Chu Chi soil.



Chuck then added displays of photographs, text and artifacts from Viet Nam to complete the exhibit.



The Command Museum is a fascinating archive of Marine Corps history from its very beginnings up through the current Iraq conflict, and the tunnel display is just one piece of a new exhibit, an entire hall devoted to the history of USMC participation in the Viet Nam war set to open in July 2007.