All I knew was that this new art form was incredible, and it not only balanced my creative self, but changed it forever. I was young, and knew nothing of posterization, Lithos, block prints, or any of the offset print tricks of the times. It wasn't until I picked up my first "foil-covered" Steppenwolf albums that I began to "Un-Max" myself, and find my true artistic identity again. I almost lost my own true identity in the process. Soon, I was painting Max-style almost 100%. They would have loved me and would probably have sent me Christmas cards every year. One of the leaders in that day of bottled tempera paint was Prang. I know that I painted hundreds of "Max-ish" posters, and went through gallons of fluorescent temperas in the process. He was an extreme innovator and influenced an entire generation with his works. Without going into his history, Peter Max was probably the most famous poster and pop artist of all time. My first artistic influences of the psychedelic order were Peter Max, and most album covers. I realized that there were just some things that science needs to leave alone. In the end, my inventions led me to the question: "how do you create a neon black?" Obviously, I wasn't the brightest kid in the class. Lots of money was wasted on paints being wasted. Next came my disastrous attempt to create a "glo black". They in fact created the finest mud you could ever hope for. Purples, browns, and shades of blues and greens were places you just didn't want to go. I soon realized that the fluorescent paints worked best with primary and secondary colors only. The final outputs were not so great, but the experimentation was interesting. My biggest breakthroughs came with the mixing of colors. I really liked red as a glow color, but it was hard for me to work with as it seemed kind of a darker orange color. I'm RGB color blind, so that would explain a lot. Pink rarely got used, but it was a great color under ultraviolet. I had to reinforce my paint sets constantly. Blue is my favorite color, and I used as much of it as possible. They cost around a dollar a set, and the set came with a brush. It was great to just set them up on the dresser as they were illuminated whenever the old black light was on. Interestingly, they also glowed in daylight if natural sun was available.
Black light posters series#
I bought my best posters at headshops.įlorescent paints were awesome! The greatest invention known to mankind was contained in a series of brightly colored jars known as "Day-Glo Colors or "Fluorescent Paints".
It was a blessing that headshops usually carried a decent selection. My favorites were usually sold out, and I had to go to smaller, more out of the way stores and pay a dollar, or 50 cents extra for the best ones. The posters on the wall had the same corresponding bin number, so all you had to do was pick out your favorite, go to the bin, and try to find it. On the end of the roll was a tag with the bin number on it. They used to have these bins, or shelves, and the poster would be rolled up and sealed in cellophane. Most of these stores and headshops carried them as regular items.
These were notorious ambient spaces usually separated by a sheet, tie-dyed curtain, or curtains of hanging beads. Record stores began housing them in Black Light Rooms.
Black light posters skin#
It was beyond cool how it turned most white things to a bright blue, and skin to the deepest, weirdest tan of all.īy early 1970, I began to collect black light posters as quickly as I could as a wider selection became available. In the dark with a mist of blue cascading up from a narrow fluorescent tube was the guiding light. This new ultramarine glow was the innersanctum and the deepest level of hippie-dom. My exposure (pun intended) to "black lights" came in 1968 and I began collecting the epic (and now famous) posters that came out. Undoubtedly, one of the finest harnessing of powers in my bedroom was the introduction of ultraviolet light-otherwise known as a "black light". Memories of The Beatles' "Abbey Road" are never stronger than when I recall this time in my life. I had a black light in the headboard of my bed that old double-bed, the one I'd inherited from my parents after they bought a new one, was where I spent many hours just listening to music and studying the posters under the purple glow of ultraviolet light.
0 kommentar(er)
