Hey All,  I know this may sound so immature and amatuer but sometimes you HAVE to do what you Have to do to get going.

 I had the opporunity to step out of the "I need a 500 dollar Muslin Background" box and went to the fabric disctrict downtown Los Angeles. All the Muslins at 2 dollars a yard, and wild print fabric at 26 cents a yard just opened up my world. Not to mention the Thick feather Shrigs and neck wraps at 2-15 dollars. I am already getting ready for Valentines Day. I mean I know I should plan this stuff before, but In my position I have to learn by trial and error. Im just so excited about the findings and the props at the Toy District.

 

Now I just need to know #1. About dying and desining the muslins, #2 Is there any other type of material I should Keep my eye out for? #3 Anyone found lighting for softboxes under $300.00?? Thought I throw that in!

 

Peace!!

 

Mone't

Do a search in the forums, I know last year there were some good post on how to paint your own backdrops that looked wonderful.

Marjie

Hey, Mone't.  You California girl!  You sure do go at  what you want full tilt!  And I hope 2007 will be a great career year for you.  You have all the talent and enthusiasm for it!!!I do't know what to tell you about making backdrops.  But it gets talked about here.  You can either try to do a search, or wait till everyone comes back from the holidays and gets into chatting about these things again.Merry Christmas, Mone't.  It's good to have you here.  Shannone

Here are the instructions you'll find online.  I posted these on another site recently.

If you want to use fabric store muslin to do yourself, buy the 108". Buy some RIT dye, and have a plastic bucket to use, some household rubber gloves, boil about 3-4 gallons of water on the stove top. Wash the fabric first, then while it's wet, don't dry it, lay it out on your floor, and crumple it randomly and bunch it up, and then tie the whole ball of fabric up with twine or jute, tightly.
Either outside, or in your kitchen sink, CAREFULLY add your dye to the hot water, in your bucket with 1 cup of table salt and stir it in, and add the fabric. Wear your gloves at this point. Make sure your fabric is completely submerged in the water for a full 1/2 hour. Don't stir it, just let it sit, making sure it's covered.
Now you have to rinse it. Don't splash the water if you can help it, as it will stain everything permanently! Rinse, rinse, rinse until all of the water runs clear. This will take a little while, then you can spin it out in your washer, and dry it on low heat in the dryer. I usually do a rinse and spin in the washer, to get as much of the dye out as possible.
There's a ton of info on the net for making backdrops.

Hope this helps, if ou have any questions, just PM me, and I'll try to help som more.  Also this will give you a tie dye look

This is my gallery , and the first six pics are with homemade backdrops.

Jess

Jess! Thats totally awesome! Thanks so Much! I cant wait till I come back from Vegas to try this out one weekend. I plan on going to the fabric dristrict twice a month for a few months until im satisfied! lol. Most people just dont understand digital backgrounds as of yet so they want to see something like now! lol. And its a bit easier and quicker. Anyways Shannon! Your such a sweety! Im so glad to be here as well! Im sooo excited aboiut this coming year. The last few days Ive had alot of people wanting to help market and work for me! Im sooo excited! I cant wait till 07' refreshed and renewed!

 

Thanks guys!

You can also get you a plastic tub and use latex paints that have been diluted to do the muslins.   I forget exactly the formula but it was something like 1 part paint to 5 parts water.