Neon Doesn’t Deserve Dark Reputation

For decades, dazzling neon lights have lured visitors to restaurants, barber shops, theaters, nightclubs and bowling alleys. These glowing tubes of fiery reds, often bordered by cool blues and bright whites, could be seen for miles.

They were the bright lights of the city.

All curves and no angles, neon was never subtle. It screamed to be noticed.

Neon was sometimes dismissed as garish and gaudy. During the 1960s, many neon signs became haphazard in their composition and developers began condemning them, and some cities banned them.

But all that’s changing as artists rediscover neon’s artistic value.

Mission Viejo artist Vickie Elkan uses neon in combination with more traditional artistic mediums, such as watercolors.

“I’ve always loved neon, but you have to be careful when you add it to other pieces,” she said. “It has a tendency to take over. Neon color is absolute. The colors are so brilliant, and it has a hard, dynamic quality. The colors are very high spectrum.”

Elkan didn’t start out with the idea of incorporating neon into her work. She had been creating drawings and watercolors for more than 20 years and decided to experiment with neon about a year ago. She added a bar of neon to an existing watercolor and was pleased with the result.

“I brought one piece into a shop where my work is displayed, and at first, I think the staff wasn’t so sure about the idea of a neon piece,” she said. “But when that bar lit up, you could tell they were really excited. I have never received any negative feedback when neon is added to a piece. Instead, it adds an unusual feature that people seem to enjoy.”

The neon tube was invented by a French chemist, Georges Claude, in the early 1900s, when he was researching the discharge of electricity through gases confined to glass tubes. His goal was to produce light. He invented an electrode that holds gases for long periods of time in glass tubes.

The gas is sealed in the tube and electricity flows from electrodes through the gas. This “excites” the gas, creating the familiar glow associated with neon signs. Illumination is distributed evenly throughout the tube.

While neon is the name commonly assigned to these electric tubings, it is simply one of several gases used. Neon itself produces ranges of orange. Argon with mercury creates the various shades of light and bright blue. Argon produces lavender, helium produces peach, krypton produces white and xenon produces another shade of blue.

Combining these gases will, in turn, produce other colors. Other variables that affect color include the color of the glass tube itself, and the color of the fluorescent coating on the inside of the glass. Neon in a yellow-colored glass tube will produce a deep orange, while if it is encased in a red tube, it produces a fluorescent ruby color. Interestingly enough, the elements of creating neon light have changed little since it was invented.

Essentially, there are three elements required to determine the color of a neon light: the gas, the color of the glass tubing and phosphors (the fluorescent coating).

“What I especially appreciate about neon is that it makes art look more alive,” Elkan said. “You can almost see it move, pulsate. And, for my pieces, it adds to the three-dimensional qualities I like.”

When designing a neon piece, Elkan first sketches out her ideas in rough form. She frequently finishes her drawing or watercolor and then adds neon.

“On my first project, I was a little timid,” she said. “I simply added a straight bar to the piece. Now I’m a little more daring. I like squiggly lines, and neon isn’t that difficult to work with.”

What’s needed for a neon piece is a transformer (the electrical device that is used to transform the current to a value high enough to produce a gaseous discharge) and a converter box.

“Some people are initially a little nervous about the electricity, but it’s no more dangerous than any form of lighting,” Elkan said. “The electricity isn’t going to ‘short out’ or start a fire. In fact, neon is very durable. It has to be or otherwise so many people wouldn’t have used it for signs.”

Neon was invented to use less energy than incandescent light bulbs. Claude’s idea was to create a source of general indoor and outdoor illumination that requires a lower amperage (a unit of electrical current) than that which comes out of a regular electrical socket. For this reason, neon must have a transformer that “downloads” the current.

Other common applications of neon include adding it to existing posters. Reproduction posters of Marilyn Monroe with a wavy bar of neon added to her skirt are popular, for instance.

Homeowners use neon to outline stairways, arches or other architectural structures. Today, artists also use neon tubes for sculpture, to accentuate a piece or to draw the viewer’s eye.

“If you want to draw attention to a particular area, neon is an effective way to do it,” Elkan said. “Because it’s so brilliant, your eye is naturally drawn to it.”

Artists must work closely with the neon “benders” to ensure that the tubing assumes the correct shape. Each kind of glass has its own characteristics, and an experienced bender knows how to work with each type.

Working closely with the bender helps ensure that the tubing meets the artist’s specifications. “There are no sharp corners with neon,” Elkan said. “Everything has to have rounded edges because the tube can’t make a sharp angle.”

To achieve this, there must be a continuous unobstructed line of tubing that extends from one electrode to another (although a design can consist of of several smaller units or one continuous tube consisting of a pair of electrodes).

Neon isn’t cheap. The tubing and the cost of “bending” it are high. Depending on how much neon is used, buyers can expect to add anywhere from a minimum of $150 to $200 to the purchase price. Obviously, the more neon used, the higher the cost.

“Some people think of neon as trendy, but I don’t,” Elkan said. “For a while, we didn’t see as much neon, but it’s making a comeback. Of course, I’ve always loved it, but now you’re seeing it featured again in signs and art after a period of time when it seemed to virtually disappear for many years.”