Cleveland State University – Director: Toby Vera Bercovici
Fall 2025
The help communicate the “puppet show come to life” aspect of Cleveland State University’s The Winter’s Tale, I was tasked with painting nine-foot-tall flats to resemble the hands of Autolycus. It was my biggest project at CSU.
I started by taking reference photos of the actor’s hands for the director and scenic designer to choose from.
From there, I projected, traced, and began to paint!
One of the most challenging aspects of making these hands was being unable to view them from a distance.
To recreate the texture and natural color variation of skin, I used sea sponges and layered on diluted paint in shades of pink, yellow, magenta, and purple.
The scenic designer wanted the hands to resemble the work of Terry Gilliam, art director from Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”. I did my best to emulate his style, particularly in the harsh highlights and shadows.
Once they were hung onstage, I was finally able to look at them from the audience’s perspective. I made some final adjustments, and they were ready for opening night!
This project was so incredibly fun! Recreating the illusion of texture and depth was a good challenge. Now I can tell people that I’m an experienced finger painter!
