Working With Fluorescent Materials

The sensational effect of black light is produced by placing a desired picture or mes­sage that has been treated with luminous paint before a black-light tube in an otherwise dark­ened room. The tube put out by General Electric costs about $32.80.

WAYNE C. HILL, Takoma Park, Maryland

The sensational effect of black light is produced by placing a desired picture or mes­sage that has been treated with luminous paint before a black-light tube in an otherwise dark­ened room. The tube put out by General Electric costs about $32.80.

It is my understanding that the paint allows the light rays from the black-light tube to pene­trate through the thickness of the coat of paint and then reflect back toward the viewer, carry­ing with it the brilliance of the special pigments incorporated within the paint.

Obtainable from the Lawter Chemical Com­pany of Chicago, and elsewhere, it is sold under the trade name of Luva-lite and other names. [See Review and Herald black-light announce­ment on page 18.] It is an oil-base preparation and is available in half-pint, pint, quart, and gallon sizes, selling for about $5.40 a pint; but it goes a long way and is quite permanent in its results.

In the Silver Spring, Maryland, campaign the device was used almost exclusively to show the prophetic beasts. We used the lithographed charts published by the Review and Herald Publishing Association. Since our set was an older edition, printed on heavy paper, we cut the figures with ordinary scissors in such a manner as to leave the largest possible amount of white around each. We then glued each one to 1/4-inch stock of 4- by 8-foot plywood sheets with common wallpaper paste, being extremely careful to see that all possible wrinkles were smoothed out. After the paste had dried over­night, we sawed the figures out roughly with a keyhole saw, leaving plenty of margin. How­ever, instead of using 1/4-inch plywood, I would suggest 3/8-inch because the former has a definite weakness toward warping while drying, making the figures that much more difficult to mount on the black-light board during the sermon.

If the charts are not of paper but of water­proof cloth, I would suggest that some expert advice be obtained from a reputable paint store concerning a suitable and long-lasting adherent so that the painted picture will not come loose.

Colors Available

The art brushes that were used ranged from No. 2 to about No. 8 and were of the best camel's-hair type. This is important, for the paints are quite stiff and have a tendency to strip a cheap brush of its strands of hair in short order. For those who are not aware of it, the brushes should always be at a point when in use. To ensure this point, leave them in that shape when they are not being used.

The Luva-lite paints come in the following colors as of this date:

F 133 Bulletin White

F 143 White White

F 165 Bulletin Yellow

F 126 Bulletin Blue

F 159 Bulletin Aqua Green

F 149 Bulletin Green

F 114 Phantom Green (This appears white until the black light hits it. It can therefore be used for special effects with white.)

F 164 Bulletin Orange

F 151 Bulletin Flesh

F 183 Flesh

F 147 Red

F 110 Phantom Red (See note on phantom green.)

The amounts needed will vary with the job at hand, but a pint of each will go a long way.

As these are far from the usual animal colors, a certain amount of ingenuity is necessary in using compatible and/or complementary colors, so that in any single work the results are pleas­ing and somewhat plausible to the viewer who sees them for the first time.

Nothing can be satisfactorily done without constant use of black light at every step in building your charts. This is because it is im­possible to determine the shade of any given color on any given background without first looking at it under black light. Red, for in­stance, will change a great deal when it is painted on white, gray, and dark backgrounds; however, this is one of the main advantages when rightly used, for it gives some additional color effects in the midst of so few available colors which cannot be satisfactorily mixed without a high degree of reflective loss. (Mixing is not recommended by the manufacturer.)

While far from difficult, this job certainly de­mands time and patience. We allowed about seven or eight hours of working time on the simpler pictures and more on the more com­plex ones. The secret, then, is not to rush your­self and to start far enough in advance of the meetings.

All paints are toxic. Black-light paints, how­ever, seem to be extremely so. If possible, the work should be done in a place that is airy, perhaps in adjoining rooms, one darkened and the other well ventilated. If this is not practical, then frequent breaks for fresh air, or a handker­chief worn over the nose and mouth, will help prevent badly irritated nasal passages and throat.

Thinning is done with a good clean grade of turpentine, frequently changed. Care should be taken not to use too much, and thinning should be done in a container other than the paint can, because once the paint is ruined there is nothing that can be done.

Contrasting Colors

Inasmuch as the colors are so limited, contrast is the most important point in the use of these paints. Unpainted areas are sometimes even more vivid than the painted ones that surround them. To illustrate, in the case of the ram, we found that if we painted the head area around the horn with phantom green and the detailed high lights within the horn with bulletin white, the large-horn area, which was black and there­fore difficult to paint, was far more prominent than if we had attempted to paint it. Further, on the ram we also used phantom green all along the upper portion of the body and back, covering only those areas in the upper half such as might be shown upon by bright sunlight. The lower half of this upper section we edged in long irregular but smoothly finished strokes to denote the lights and shadows of woolly flanks. On the lower portions of the body we used the bulletin flesh color because it was not so bright as the other, yet just as pastel in shade, denoting possible shadow. Between these two colors we left a wide, irregular unpainted band that was cream-colored in the original drawing. The re­flected light from the two painted portions made the other section quite visible, and it in turn formed the connecting color transition. To achieve the third-dimensional effect for the legs, we painted the inner portions of the distant ones and the outer portions of the near ones. The face was highlighted in the proper areas about the mouth, nose, and eyes with white. The tongue was reddened, as was the eye pupil.

The result was harmonious and not confusing to the eye of anyone in the auditorium. This pro­cedure must be tested with the light at every step.

When painting areas where there is much detail to be retained, such as spots, whiskers, eyebrows, and the like, we found it easier to paint the entire area with the most predominant color called for. After this was dry we returned to the detail that could easily be seen through the other paint. Additional effective areas to be left unpainted are eyes (except pupils), claw bases, body spots, et cetera. However, when spots are on a yellow body, paint the entire body yellow first and then return and dot in the spots with a dark, nonluminous oil-base paint. We found the brown and black shades of Dek-all excellent for this purpose.

This paint can also be used to correct an error, for it is well-nigh impossible to wipe off this luminous paint. The slightest trace of this paint anywhere will not fail to show up under the light. If turpentine is used to rub off the unwanted spot more often than not it becomes more unsightly. The best solution is to use either a razor blade carefully or Dek-all.

At the final cutting, which we did with a jigsaw, we still left a good-sized margin in order to protect the painted edges in moving and storing. Care must also be taken to keep from marring the surface, or it will show. Fingerprints should be watched for the same reason.

Day-glow paper that possesses the same quali­ties as the paint is available at better stationery stores and art shops. It sells for about forty cents a sheet (28 by 44 inches). The Hall Crafts Company, 2930 N. 11th Street, Philadelphia, also handles pre-cut letters of various sizes in Day-glow paper stock. The price is $12 a font.

WAYNE C. HILL, Takoma Park, Maryland

July 1955

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