Saks: Behind the Scenes

Here's a short video I made showing behind the scenes of this year's Saks windows:

In the scenic shop:

 

 

 

Install at Saks:

Process of a Drop: Start to Finish

This season I thought I'd document the process behind my biggest project:
the painting of a 35-foot wide drop (that's short for backdrop) of the New York skyline at night for Saks window 3.

This drop needed to be unusually large because it would be hung as a scrolling background, the two ends sewn together.  The carpenters had to install a special frame down the middle of the paint shop to hang this thing, which took over the room for the week.

After the canvas is stretched, Rachel and I gesso (prime) the canvas using the base colors.

From there, we painted in the scene using spray guns, airbrushes, brushes, stenciling, and a projector. 

 

Here's the finished drop. Ta-da!

The finished drop is then taken down, grommeted, and installed on the conveyor belt in the Saks window. 

Finally, it gets installed on site along with the rest of the window. It sure looks great scrolling behind the Yeti's boat! The end.

Scenic Shop Shenanigans

Here's a look behind-the-scenes in our scenic studio!

Video I made of various co-workers dancing behind a big stretched canvas, go-go style:

Paint Shop


Main floor

The paint shop is so glamorous. With the temperamental sink...

 

...and ultimately makeshift spray booth.

 

Here's a sampling of the silly moments I caught on film...

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and and other pictures of elves on the job.

 

Creepy Fun with Figures

Normally I work just in the paint department, but this year I got to also paint heads in the figures department.

Yeah, painting heads sure isn't creepy AT ALL.

These "Christmas Carol" heads were especially unsettling...

 

Then there were the Ollie heads on spikes...

...and how about a box of headless bodies?

 

I spent a lot of time on the Saks heads, using Nico's inspiration for reference.

 

There was an issue of some sexual harassment with the "Don Draper" inspired figure.

The figure shop is led by Ann Folger, shown here positioning the figures in the window.

 

The figures shop also includes renaissance-woman Sarah Quinn, who is as entertaining as she is talented.

 

It's seriously  impossible not to play with this stuff.

 

Finally, here's my doppelganger figure for one of the Macy's branch stores