Two weeks ago, I was asked to be a watercolor consultant on a commercial shoot for the city of Dubai! It's not something I normally do, so it was a really fun experience, though it was very intense!
Basically what I did was paint while what I painted was filmed. In the final, my hands will be edited out, and it will look like the painting is painting itself. It was a bit nerve racking with everyone so focussed on what I was doing (especially when I was painting alone). I felt a lot of pressure to get it right, so they could use the footage, and we could move on to the next scene. I have no idea how actors do what they do.....
I also worked with two other artists, and we did various things with paint and dyes to produce different dynamic effects. I also assisted (which is what I'm doing above), mixed the correct colors for them, and handed them tools (brushes, paint, eye droppers, tape, etc.)
I had only worked on a commercial shoot once when I used to live in Los Angeles. Like this one, the hours were insane - 15-17 hour days -- I don't know how the regulars do it. My time on this project was only three days, so I managed, but I was exhausted afterwards.
So were my hands:
Can't wait to see what the final commercial looks like when it airs!