Into the Woods, one of Stephen Sondheim’s most famous shows, combines classic fairy tales, such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel into one cohesive narrative. Set in a fairy‑tale kingdom, the action unfolds primarily in an enchanted forest where the characters’ storylines gradually intertwine. Below, scenic artist Bridgette Dennett provides a helpful guide to choosing paint colors, with practical tips and techniques for creating a fairy‑tale woodland setting on stage.
Does this scenario sound familiar to you: you’ve just selected Into the Woods for your school, and now you need to figure out a paint scheme. You have an idea of what you want to do, but you just need a little help picking out your colors and getting started. If this sounds familiar, then here’s a handy little quick-start guide to creating a fantasy playground for your fairy-tale characters!
To begin playing around with colors, you could start with Rosco’s Foliage Scenic Set. This versatile Off Broadway scenic paint kit features four colors—Chrome Oxide Green, Lemon Yellow, Burnt Umber, and Payne’s Grey—and is ideal for practicing mixing techniques to create different types of tree and foliage scenery. The kits are available in 6 oz. jars so that you can explore which colors you need before purchasing enough to paint your full stage!
The Chrome Oxide Green is a great base for any woodsy leaves, and the Lemon Yellow can be used to mix a brighter green to help those colors pop! The Burnt Umber is a strong start to your wood bark, and the Payne’s Grey is useful for mixing with both the leaves and bark colors to deepen those shadows. (If you’d like a warmer shadow color, Van Dyke Brown could also work beautifully here!)
To create realistic bark textures, papier-mâché techniques can go a long way. In order to make these look realistic, use fabric that has been dipped in a mixture of your bark paint color and Rosco FlexCoat™. Examples of the techniques to create this texture can be found in the following Rosco Spectrum blogs: Creating Three-Dimensional Foliage and How to Create Large Scale Papier-Mâché Scenery.
If you have experience with foam carving and would like to sculpt your trees, Rosco’s FoamCoat™ is highly useful for protecting the foam from wear and tear during your scenery. Pro tip: Try mixing some paint with the FoamCoat and some FlexBond™. Dip strips of lightweight muslin in the goopy mixture, then apply over your carved foam. This will get you the depth of the foam, combined with the texture of the papier-mâché techniques, while the muslin will also strengthen the durability of your scenery. It’s a win/win!!
To add a little pop to your fairy-tale vignettes at the beginning, a little bit of color theory can open up a wide world of saturated colors. Tessa Broyles has a phenomenal video breaking down how color mixing can go a long way with only a few colors. To see this in action, watch her video The Basics Of Color Theory & Paint Mixing.
In this video, Tessa shows how the Off Broadway scenic paint colors in Roco’s Intense Primaries Scenic Set—Magenta, Lemon Yellow, Pthalo Blue, and Orange—can be used to quickly mix up a large batch of beautifully saturated colors.
And finally, we know you’re looking for a stellar moon to showcase The Last Midnight! Read this blog to see how scenic artist Tim Parati created an Invisible Blue Moon using Rosco’s Fluorescent Paints.
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