Trippy art is often defined by its intense spectral colors and repeating contours.
Artists and musicians began creating "trippy" art in the late 1960s. At the same time, many also began experimenting with drugs and experienced the resulting drug "trips", from which stemmed the term "trippy". Art that was trippy typically featured mesmerizing swirls, bright colors, fantastic landscapes and alien subjects. Also known as psychedelic art, the goal for many artists was to attempt to play tricks on the minds of the art connoisseur or novice, effectively taking them to a new world of sorts. This type of art did not die in the 1960s; it has since evolved to a whole new aesthetic with several recurring elements which have helped define it as a style all its own.
Color
Trippy art typically uses the whole spectrum of visible colors ranging through red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Try using all of these colors to create vibrant and stunning work that immediately draws the eye to the page or canvas. Trippy art is saturated with these colors. If you utilize the spectrum of colors in repeating bands, much like those seen in a rainbow, they will take on an even more dramatic effect.
Repetition
The majority of trippy art tends to have an almost hypnotic effect due to the use of repeating lines and contours. Tessellation and patterns woven like fabric can entice the viewer into a trance-like reverie. Some trippy art uses a steady repeating pattern such as grid-like forms while other uses accelerating curves to create hypnotic effects that suggest the illusion of movement. This effect is often produced by mathematically calculated variations in the size, shape or curve of repeating forms. You can experiment with more organic patterns without the use of calculation by simply using repeating curves, shapes and lines.
Subjects
"Trippy" art has become identified with a large oeuvre of subjects. These include mushrooms, mermaids, fairies, little green men, trees with faces, marijuana leaves, gnomes, elves, rainbows, wizards, vines and characters from "Alice in Wonderland". Introducing any of these elements to the composition of your drawing will make your work further resemble trippy art, especially when it's combined with spectral colors and repetition. Do not feel as if you must integrate these subjects into your art, however; trippy art is not defined by them. Feel free to create your own playful and hypnotic world.
Exaggeration and Disconnection
Recognizable forms such as creatures, plants, rivers and household objects are often exaggerated in trippy art. When drawing a character, for example, try exaggerating the size of the hands and facial features. Often, mouths are enlarged into enormous grins (think about the Cheshire Cat's grin in "Alice in Wonderland"). Various elements can also be disconnected or disembodied. Eyeballs may float on a page or elves may walk through the air. These variations will empower the sense of imbalance that thrives in trippy art.
Stream of Consciousness
Many trippy and psychedelic artists use stream-of-consciousness drawing to develop their work. Rather than planning out a forethought composition, they start drawing and discover what arises. You can begin by drawing a few lines, short and straight or long and curved. Be fluid and don't censor your movements. Then take a step back to see what the lines suggest to your subconscious mind. For example, two curved lines may suggest two eyes and once you draw those eyes, another line may suggest a long curved nose. This process of creating art is playful and spontaneous, allowing for many essential elements of trippy art to arise naturally.
