Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2009 - 41

specific effects.
crude looking, and are most effective when
used delicately.

are intended for

THREE KINDS OF ULTRAVIOLET PAINTS
Ultraviolet paints are generally divided into three categories:
standard or visible paints (e.g., Rosco Fluorescents, Rosco vivid
FX, Wildfire visible luminescents), invisible paints (e.g., Rosco
ClearColours, Wildfire Invisible luminescents), and phosphorescent paints (e.g., Golden Acrylic Phosphorescent Green). Ultraviolet
paints are also called blacklight paints and fluorescent paints.
Standard UV Paints: Fluorescents are very bright colors
used for neon effects. These paints are regular colors under
regular lighting, but become very bright when excited by ultraviolet radiation. These paints are generally acrylic or tempera,
mixed the same way as standard paints. In figure 2b, color
wheels of these paints are shown under both regular white light
and Uv light. The outside ring of color dots contains samples
of Rosco's eleven vivid FX paint colors. The innermost ring is
samples of Wildfire's eight visible luminescent paint colors.
The two rings of color dots in the middle are samples of both
products' red, yellow, and blue colors with mixtures of these
primary colors to approximate the hues of the paint samples in
the outside and inside rings. The center dot, a mixture of the
SAmPlES UndEr wHITE lIgHT

three primaries, is a dark brown under white light, but appears
as a lighter tan under ultraviolet light.
Invisible UV Paints: Invisible Uv paints are designed
to function very differently than standard fluorescent paints.
Under white light they are clear-invisible-but they glow
bright colors under ultraviolet light. When the Uv light hits
them, the special luminescent particles suspended in the clear
binder emit light in a wavelength approximating the color on
the paint's label. In liquid form under white light, most of the
invisibles appear milky white, but they are clear when applied.
Consequently, it is necessary to mix and apply these paints under ultraviolet light. In an article in Paint & Coatings, A. Nurhan
becidyan explains, "The visible color of these inorganic pigments is due entirely to emitted radiation and they are additive colors" (becidyan 2003). Mixing colors with these paints
involves additive mixing-see the color wheel for lighting (fig.
3a). This means that a blend of all the colors, as shown in figure 3b, results in a light color (it is white in the theoretical
lighting color wheel), instead of the dark brown (black in theoretical subtractive mixing) that results when mixing primaries
of standard paints.

SAmPlES UndEr UlTrAVIolET lIgHT
red
yellow

magenta
white

green

blue
cyan

lighting Color wheel (additive mixing).
Primary colors-red, green, blue-when
mixed in equal parts create the secondary
colors of yellow, cyan, and magenta.

lighting Color wheel using invisible ultraviolet paints-shown under regular white light and under
ultraviolet light-painted on a white latex base by Anne Clark. In the outer ring are samples of four rosco
ClearColour colors; in the second ring are ClearColour red, green, and Blue with mixing to get other
colors; in the third ring are wildfire's luminescent Invisible red, Invisible green, and Invisible Blue, with
mixing; and in the fourth ring are five wildfire Invisible luminescent Paint colors. (note: while the colors in
these wheels appear different than the primary colors in the theoretical lighting Color wheel, the pictures
accurately represent the painted samples for this article.)

S P R I N G

2009

theatre

design

technology

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2009