Groovy, baby!Art is always a great place to find inspiration — especially when it is as fun, funky and loud as the posters and album covers that came out of the psychedelic art movement of the late 1960s. It’s hard not to fall for the appeal of this ultra-cool, ultra-retro style. You may not be tempted to transform your house into a swinging Austin Powers-style pad, but translating this fresh, hippie look onto a scrapbooking page is a different story. It is the perfect place to make a statement with this striking and distinctive style. Loretta Grayson explains Singing sweet songs
By Loretta Grayson
Materials
Paper: BasicGrey, My Mind’s Eye, Junkitz
Other: BasicGrey letters, Uniball Signo pen, Faber-Castell pen, thread, vintage buttons
Font: Butterfield Psychedelia is often associated with swirling colours, flowers, rainbows and sunshine. Here, I toned down the colours but still kept true to the essence of the style. The sun is actually a CD pocket on which I recorded some of my favourite songs. I even wrote some lyrics on the green sunrays. Proceed
By Loretta Grayson
Materials
Cardstock: Bazzill
Other: BasicGrey letters, American Crafts ribbon, BasicGrey rub-ons, John Sands note card, Uniball Signo pen, Sharpie marker, staples, fabric, clothing tag
Resources: butterfly scanned from Exotic Alphabets and Ornament, William Rowe, Dover Publications, 1974 The collage style of this layout was inspired by the intricate collages of Martin Sharp that appeared on posters, albums and magazine covers in the ’60s. This page was one of my first experimental ‘Book of Me’ pages. I created it by scanning and digitally re-colouring images and then printing them onto matte photo paper. The butterfly is from a 1970s graphic design book, and ‘Peace Angel’ is a clothing tag. Across the bottom, I added a favourite quote from the film ‘Elizabethtown’. Inspiration sometimes comes from the most unlikely sources. A couple of years ago, I began working on an 8in x 8in album which was to become a ‘Book of Me’. Because these pages were for me alone, the album became a kind of art journal where I felt free to explore new ideas and techniques. Unexpectedly, I kept coming back again and again to psychedelic concert posters for inspiration. The psychedelic art movement flourished in San Francisco in the late 1960s and early ’70s, when artists such as Wes Wilson and Rick Griffin were designing posters for concerts at the famous Fillmore Auditorium. British design firm Hapshash and the Coloured Coat was another famous proponent of this style, as was Australian artist Martin Sharp, whose work was seen on many posters and album covers as well as in Oz magazine. Posters from this era have such a distinctive look. The designs are so busy and surreal and they are full of swirling shapes, rich, bright colours and ornate, art nouveau lettering. Artists often combined photographs and collage techniques to create these looks as well. Today, many graphic designers are modernising and reinventing the psychedelic style. Take a look at some modern album covers in your local music store to see some great examples of neo-hippie-style graphics. Underground music scene newspapers and magazines, which you can pick up in inner-city coffee shops, are also great sources of digital, 1960s-inspired artwork. Nickel and Bridget
By Loretta Grayson
Materials
Cardstock: EK Success
Paper: cherryArte, Junkitz
Other: Uniball Signo pen, sequins, thread, woven trim
Font: Medusa There are many patterned papers available today that are influenced by the resurgence of the psychedelic style. I combined these Junkitz papers with their repetitive circle motifs and swirled patterns, with some dotted, purple and mustard cherryArte papers to create an intricate background design.
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