Of course, scenic artists need brushes to paint. Most scenic painters keep a selection of large paintbrushes of varying size, from one-and-a-half to four-inches wide. These brushes sport wooden or plastic handles and bristles made of natural or synthetic fibers. Natural bristles cater toward oil base paints, varnishes and shellacs while synthetic bristles work best with latex paints. Straight-edged brushes come in handy for painting large blocks of color---a common task for scenic painters---while brushes with angled edges cater toward trim, edging and basic detailing. As scenic painters create a wide variety of textures and details, a versatile kit of detailing brushes is essential. These brushes include long, thin fitch brushes, angled straight-edged brushes and angled cup-edged brushes with heads that range from a quarter of an inch to two inches wide.
As scenic painting often entails painting large blocks of color on massive canvasses or replicating texture over entire sets, a paint roller saves a lot of time. A cottony synthetic fabric holds large amounts of paints on a roller head, which is mounted on hand-held or long-handled frames. Paint rollers stretch from nine inches to eighteen inches across, and some feature extending poles. Scenic painters at Theatrical Helper recommend using natural sea sponge rollers to quickly paint large areas of texture. Likewise, hand-held sea sponges help create texture on a smaller scale. Some scenic painters turn to paint sprayers to create both solid colors and textures on a large scale.
Scenic painters employ large sheet-like drop cloths under their works-in-progress to protect the stage floor from damage. Canvas presents a traditional drop cloth option that stands the test of time, though large spills will leak through. Dried paint does not chip off the surface of re-usable canvas drop cloths. Modern rubber-backed canvas drop cloths come at high prices, but stand up against even large spills. Thin plastic drop cloths are cost-efficient, put don't stand up to multiple uses as dried paint flakes off the surface. Some scenic painters employ tarps as drop cloths, as they come in very large sizes at a low cost; tarps, however, are susceptible to painting flaking and large spill leakage.