Psychedelic paintings come to us in many different styles. From minimalistic designs with contrasting colors to incredibly detailed fractal geometries, painstakingly represented in oil.
Over the years, I have gathered a large collection of my favorite psychedelic paintings from which I use to derive inspiration. I thought I'd share a few of them with you today. I've tried to present a broad enough range of styles here, but hopefully you'll agree they all share that inherent psychedelic vibe.
1. The Hallucinogenic Toreador - Salvador Dali
Over the years, I have gathered a large collection of my favorite psychedelic paintings from which I use to derive inspiration. I thought I'd share a few of them with you today. I've tried to present a broad enough range of styles here, but hopefully you'll agree they all share that inherent psychedelic vibe.
1. The Hallucinogenic Toreador - Salvador Dali
The first time I saw this striking psychedelic image was as a poster on a friend's living room wall. While much of Dali's art is considered to be masterpieces of surrealism, rather than psychedelic, there is no doubting this paintings hallucinatory imagery.
Painted between 1968 and 1970, it remains one of the artist's most recognized paintings. Given the painting's timeline, one can imagine the use of hallucinogenic drugs must have supplied some form of inspiration for this work. However, Dali famously stated "I don't do drugs ! I am drugs !" and that his inspiration resulted from a self developed method he called "Paranoiac Critical Method".
Personally, I find it a touch difficult to believe he never did drugs given the type of people he associated with, his lavish lifestyle and childlike curious nature. He was also once quoted as saying "Everyone should do hashish but just once". When one looks past the immediate hallucinatory nature of the painting, you begin to see that it is actually swimming in endless symbolism - a device Dali used throughout his entire career.
Dali Wikipedia
Dali Wikipedia
