How to: Mix 'n' Match backgrounds part 2

Hi guys, hope you're doing well during this pandemic summer (or winter, if you're reading me from the Southern Hemisphere). 

As you may know if you've been reading my last posts, I've been in quite a crafty mood this summer and I've been working on a few projects, mostly backgrounds and props for doll photography. You saw a little bit of that on my Mix'n'match backgrounds part one. When I came up with the Mix'n'Match idea, I was trying to figure out how to make a variety of backgrounds without taking up much space. I don't know about you, but I don't have room to have 20 different dioramas and scenes to take photos, and I feel many people have the same problem. So, I thought what could I do to change up the appearance of a background with just a few elements? The answer is paneling/wainscoting. 

If you read part one and it wasn't your cup of tea, this post might be for you, since this backgrounds will be more realistic looking. Now, full disclaimer, I came up with this idea last year when I was enmeshed with college work and my home renovation. However, a couple of months ago I found this post from Bonequea and it turns out that she does something very similar. Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe it's a case of cryptomnesia and I'm fully convinced it's my original idea when it's not. I encourage you to check out her post, even if you don't speak Spanish. She uses different materials than I do, so it could be interesting for you to see another technique. 

For this craft I'm going to use the same craft supplies I used on my previous post: grey cardboard, glue, a cutter and some craft paint. There was a bit of confusion on my previous post about the name of this cardboard. I've been doing some research and this board is typically used in book binding, but also in scrapbook albums, so maybe you can look for it as "binding cardboard". For those of you in Spain, this board is called "cartón contracolado", but the lady on the store called it "cartón encolado". I hope this clarified any questions anyone may have had about the cardboard. Now let's start with the crafting.

I start by making a brand new wall. If you have already made yours, you can skip this step. I make mine 65x50cm (25,6x19.7 inches), which is quite big, but since I want to give the illusion of a room I prefer it to be a bit too large than a bit too small. You can always make them smaller if this size is too big for you.

I've polished my cutting technique a  bit. I've found out that the best way to work is standing up and not making too much pressure. Since my cutting mat is too small, I make the first cut all along my line without the mat and then repeat . Then, with the mat, I keep sliding my knife through the board again and again until it's completely cut. It's hard to describe it with words, but I do more or less the same pressure as if I was shaking someone's hand. I found this video that really helped me get a better cuttin technique (sorry it's in Spanish). 

Next, I primed both sides using gesso and let it dry for 24 hours. I got carried away on this part and forgot to take a photo, but luckily it's not necessary. 

Now it's time for my favorite part: choosing the colors. For the first side, I did something quite unusual for me and chose a neutral color. I want this wall to look more realistic than my usual backgrounds, so I thought a beige brown could be a good option. I used this cold tone brown called Burlap from Americana Acrylics. 

For the other side, I wanted to go with something a bit more colorful, but that still could be realistic. I went with the color Sea Breeze from Americana Acrylics. It looks a bit darker than I expected, but I think it can still look realistic enough. And, if it doesn't, I still love this color. 

Now it's time to start working on the paneling/wainscoting. I wasn't certain about the name and I recently saw that Barb had something similar in one of her dioramas, so I asked her. She did confirm that it was, indeed, called wainscoting. However, I've done some research and I've found out that wainscoting is a type of paneling, usually the same height as a chair. I'm not sure if mine would qualify as wainscoting, but for sure is a paneling. 

I want my paneling to be approximately up to the doll's waist, so using my doll as a guide, I decided I would make mine 18cm tall (7,09 inches). For this piece you want to make sure your cuts are as neat as possible, since the'll be more visible. 

Now we need to cut 3 long strips as wide as our paneling to be the skirting board/baseboard for the wall and the top and bottom trim for the paneling. I made one strip 1,5 cm (0.59 inches) and two 1 cm (0,39 in). You could skip this step and make them out of popsicle sticks, but I don't want them to have any seams. You should have 4 pieces like these:

Before gluing the pieces together, I painted everything with gesso. I'm not sure if this is necessary but, since the lady from the craft store said that I could use glue as a primer, I was concerned that it might soak the glue and the pieces wouldn't stick  properly. I also painted both sides, to avoid any deformation of the board. Don't pay attention to the last piece, that's for another craft. 

Make sure you paint the edges as well.

Now it's time to glue all the pieces together. If your pieces have any imperfections, make sure to leave them in the less visible areas. First, I glue the larger piece to the bottom of the panel using white glue. I personally like to apply glue using a brush and then press everything in place. I let it dry for a few minutes and then moved to the other piece. When I glue it in place, I press a bit with my fingers, starting on one of the corners, and put some weight to it as I go. 

We're almost finished! Now it's time to paint the paneling. I decided to go with white because it will match any other color. I can always make more in the future in other colors. 

Here's the finished piece. Looking at it, I feel like it's too plain. Maybe I should have made some pieces going vertical, or used a darker color. But, since it was the first time that I did this, I didn't want to overcomplicate things. I can always add extra decoration in the future or repaint it. 

Now it's time to see how it looks on camera. Let's start with the beige wall. I stick the paneling to the wall using some poster putty, so I can remove it easily when I'm done taking pics. Here's Blake.

Now let's remove the paneling and stick the baseboard/skirting board. I also brought some furniture to make it more realistic. Fun fact: the legs of the shelf on the left aren't even glued down, I just placed them under to contrast with the white floor. 

Let's flip or wall and see how our lovely "Sea Breeze" looks on camera. On this pic, I added the grey shelf I made on my Upclycling: transforming a tea box into doll furniture post. I don't have many props or decor ornaments, so I just brought a pair of colorful shoes. I'm not going to lie, but I love how it looks. 

Without the paneling, it looks brighter. In the first photos I took, Chloe looked too orange against this wall, but I fixed it by setting a warmer tone in my ring light. Apparently, my phone thought that the scene was too cold toned and tried to compensate it by making everything look warmer. 

I was curious to see how this paneling would look against the black wall, so I took a quick shot with Victoria. I do like the contrast, but I think I need to give the black wall a coat of a matt finish varnish, it looks a bit too glossy. 

Overall, I'm quite happy with this craft. I feel that I've made the right choices of colors, and they really do look nice against the dolls. My favorite is the teal one, but the beige looks nice too. If I had to do this again, I would make the paneling slightly shorter and the bottom piece slightly taller. I would love to make more designs in the future, and experiment with shapes and colors. 

I see this backgrounds as a way to add some variety  and detail to the photos, while the dolls are still the main attraction. Most of my crafts aren't perfectly made and have some flaws, but, since I'm not going to take detailed photos of them, they won't be very noticeable on camera. Being that said, I still want to perfect my technique and polish my craft. 

It has taken me forever to finish this project, not because it's complicated, but because I got side tracked with other things. I did start the walls before I started with the crates you saw on my last post. 

When it comes to other future projects, I have a few wall colors that I'd love to do. In fact, I'm working on another wall that I hope I can get to finish soon. Besides walls, I think I should also try to do more floor designs, because so far I just have plain white and black. I feel like a marble texture might be fairly easy to do. I would also need to work on some furniture and decor, like a neutral toned couch, the pink one doesn't look too realistic. However, I highly doubt I will have time for that before the school year starts. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this post. Please, let me know all your thoughts and opinions in the comment section, as well as if you have ideas for future designs. I always pay attention to what you have to say and try to incorporate that into future posts.

Monster Crafts

Check out part one:

How to: Mix'n'match backgrounds

For more background ideas, check out the photo backgrounds tag.