NICK GARDIN
Properties Artisan
SET DRESSING
This page is props that Nick built for set dressing or examples of Nick's set dressing abilities.
Please click on the pictures for a larger view.
Large Corbels
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POTUS - Steppenwolf Theatre Company (2023)
The scenic department needed four of these corbels and for them to be light weight. They had purchased one that weighed about seventeen pounds. Working with one of their carpenters, we made a brush on mold using Rebound 25 and a support shell using Foam-it! 5. We then brushed a layer of Smooth-Cast 65D into the mold for surface detail and backed it with Foam-It! 3 for the castings. The final castings ended up being around 3 pounds each.
AGED SIGN
 Finished Sign |
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 Finished Sign |
 Shadowed Lettering |
 Process Photo |
Carousel- Texas Shakespeare Festival (2016)
I built and painted this sign for a scene in Carousel. It was meant to look aged and hand painted with some imperfections in the lettering cleanliness.
STRANGER THINGS INSPIRED PHOTOBOOTH
 Finished Photobooth |
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 Finished Photobooth |
 Finished Photobooth |
 Finished Photobooth |
 Wall Before Starting |
 Rightside Up Picture |
 Process Shot |
 Modified Couch Structure |
 Modified Couch Structure |
 Couch Before Modification |
 Couch Hung |
 Proof of Upidedown Set |
 Photobooth Without People |
Personal Project (2017)
For a Halloween party, I built this upside down photobooth that is inspired by the Netflix series, Stranger Things. I started by gutting and rebuilding a couch to make it light-weight enough to safely hang upside down. It was suspended by securing it to studs in the ceiling with chain. I temporarily wallpapered the wall and hung all of the picture upside down. I also papered the floor to look like a ceiling so it could be included in the frame as well. All of the items on the table were secured with wire, including faking gravity on the telephone wire. I also used a series of wire and tacks to make the Christmas lights swag appropriately. By simply taking a picture and flipping it upside down, it looks as though you are on the ceiling.
CHRISTMAS PHOTOBOOTH
 Finished Photobooth |
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 Water Vapor Fire |
 Wall Before Beginning |
 Paint Treatment Comparisson |
 Process Shot |
 Adding Brick to Mantle |
Personal Project (2017)
This photobooth was for a Christmas party. I had an old fireplace mantle that I added plastic bricks to, which I painted to look more realistic. This was anchored to the wall, which I had temporarily wallpapered. The fire in the fireplace is created with water vapor and an orange and yellow lighting element. The rest was finding Christmas decorations to dress the scene. Please see the "Moving Props Videos" page to see a demonstration of the water vapor fire.
FILM SET DRESSING
 Office Scene |
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 Comic Book Company Office |
Slayte- Purdue University (2016)
For a short film I worked on, I was the Artistic Director. I was the scenic dresser, prop master, makeup artist, and costume designer. These are two photos of some of the set dressing I did. Both locations were bare when we arrived.
COAT RACK FAUX WOODGRAIN
 Finished Treatment |
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 Process Photo |
 Process Photo |
Blithe Spirit- Texas Shakespeare Festival (2016)
This coat rack had been painted too many times and lost its woodgrain. I painted a faux woodgrain on it by basing it in white, then layering paint until the correct effect was achieved.