Okay, pinball machines aren't really popular in my country.. only some supermarkets/pool halls etc have some in them. I have mostly ignored them the bigger part of my life, but on one day the amazing art work caught my eye, it's very full with energy, the colors are banging and everything is lookin great.


Can anyone explain me how pinball art is created? It's really hard to find decent information in the internet about that kind of thing, considering that the pinball culture isn't very alive nowadays (or maybe i'm mistaken?) I would like to myself create also that kind of art, if it is possible, I am an "artist" working in traditional media and some digital stuff also.. I have no glue how it's made, the smooth look and the high level of detail tells me that airbrush/brushes/paint/markers are maybe used for the process, but the end result is put behind a glass/ somehow printed on the glass? or something like that..

It's an amazing art form that's somewhy so underrated - or atleast I haven't heard any place giving credit to the artists making pinball machines - only some pinball fan made sites, have a little sections about the art work. I would like to see that art form stay alive, rather than fade away. There aren't much artists doing that kind of thing nowadays i quess? Or atleast i read that there's only 1 active pinball machine manufacturer, and maybe some oldschool artists who still create art with the similar style..

Can someone also explain what is considered "backglass" English isn't my mother tongue, so the term is a little confusing to me. I have understood that it's the part of the machine, where the artwork is on, or is it considered a seperate material? ..What is back glass made from? Is it plexyglass?


I hope that my question dosen't sound too stupied, all comments/links/contacts/books(?.. if i can get my hands on them in here.. I live in eastern europe) are welcomed, where I could learn the process of making of it.

Hello and welcome!

I wish we had pinballs in our supermarkets.

Pinball art is created by artists. The silkscreen process was used for many years. Ink on the back of the glass, one color at a time. Opaque areas got a coat of paint - usually black or silver.

Roy Parker did the art on 287 games for Gottlieb alone between 1935 and 1966.



George Molentin did nearly 150 games for Williams.



The Internet Pinball Machine Database has over 40,000 pictures of over 5,000 machines.

The backglass is the glass at the back of the game. In early years, it was used to display the score as well as decorative function. In the 1980s plastic replaced glass.



Hope this helps.

Cheers.

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"Knowledge is Good." - Emil Faber

They may use a different process here in the modern era.... like the 4-color lithograph used to print color pictures in a magazine for example.

Blank material? It looks like window glass about 5mm thick.

Not the artist problem here but rather the screen printer.....



The final opaque silver coat was screened upside-down.

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"Knowledge is Good." - Emil Faber