After prepping the seams, painting the sky is the second step on the backdrop to the layout. Rather than just painting a sky blue color, I blended the sky blue color into white at the base of the backdrop to simulate the haze at the horizon. The initial effect seems a bit stripy, but more background will be added along the horizon later.
I used a small roller for the blue and a brush to apply the white and blend the two. I painted both colors in about a four foot section and blended the white into the blue before moving into the next section. This way the edges between colors and sections where wet when I moved on to the next area.
After the first coat dried overnight, I found that some areas did not have full coverage over the dark brown masonite. The blue is one of the newer paint and primer paints, but it still needed a second coat. Multiple coats can help with the blending from one color to another, so no harm, no foul. A handy tool for backdrop painting is to cut out a corner of the top of a milk jug to make a brush wash station. One is visible in the river cut out in the back of the photo to the left.
Another handy trick for backdrop painting is to seal the roller in a zip lock plastic bag. The photo to the right shows the roller sealed up overnight between the first and second coats. It was ready to go the second day; no muss and no fuss!
While I was painting the second coat, I added some clouds above the haze layer. Basically I blotted some white into the blue with a wadded paper towel. Then I repeated the blotting action to blend the white and wet blue to give it a more translucent or cloud-like look.
Now the backdrop is ready for nearer mountains, hills, and trees. More about the research, planning, and execution for that in Part 3.
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