Experiment- Fluorescent and Phosphorescent Paints

Trying out my new glow in the dark and black light Paints-

I have some ideas for pieces that incorporated phosphorescent and fluorescent effects so I purchased a variety of paints by Golden, Pebeo and Tri-Art. To see how these paints would/could work and how well they would hold up I painted swatches of each on both black and white papers. The Yellow, Orange and Tangerine black light paints looked fluorescent (especially on the black paper) even without black light illumination-

When I put the black light bulb in they really popped. The UVFX Black Light Poster Paints from Tri-Art worked best over a light background- with the yellow-red paints looking their most vibrant in concentration. The Violet, Blue and Green stood out the most when more thinly applied. They layered nicely to. The Tri-Art UVFX Medium also worked- almost clear under normal light it glows a pale electric blue under UV light-

Tri-Art’s UVFX Black Light Poster Paints are true to description. The Yellow comes out as an intense greenish-lemon yellow under black light. Tangerine translates to a middle orange. Fluorescent Orange looks more vermillion under UV light and the Red turns a vibrant crimson. The Pink is a hot pink. Blue and Violet are both middle range for their hues and the Green glows a bright kelly-green under the black light.

Golden’s Phosphorescent Green and Pebeo’s Green Phosphorescent Gel glowed the brightest when I turned off the lights and the level of phosphorescence is definitely dependent on how thickly the paint is applied. Pebeo’s Phosphorescent Blue glows an eerie flame-blue in the dark.  They glow in the tubes to- could make an interesting luminary.  Golden’s Phosphorescent Green seemed to glow the longest in the dark but they all lasted over an hour. They also glow nicely under UV light.

All of these paints will work nicely for the projects fermenting in the back of my mind. I painted swatches on several sheets of art paper. Some will be left (unexposed) in a black box, some taped to the wall of my studio- and some left in a south facing window that gets a lot of direct sunlight. Checking them every couple of months I will be able to see how tough they are.