PROVIDENCE — When Jon D. Robertson was in school, other kids wrote words when they took notes but he drew pictures. And tonight, as creative director for Daystar Lasers International LLC, he will draw on the sky over the city.

Safety regulations and launch-site damage from last year’s New Year’s Eve fireworks ruled them out for tonight’s Bright Night Festival in Providence. But with the help of the city and the Providence Tourism Council, the decision was made to trade gunpowder for photons and replace the fireworks with a midnight laser light show, said the festival director, Adam G. Gertsacov.

Robertson said the show has been specifically designed for the Ocean State, with lasers projecting Rhode Island-related images on a large mesh screen that can show the image but still let the lasers shine through and on into the night sky.

Exactly how the show will look was still up in the air as of last night, as predictions of wind — not snow — could create problems, Robertson said.

“We’re going to have to see,” he said. “It could.”

Snowflakes would not be an issue, he said; in fact they could actually enhance the show. The laser beams are strong enough to be visible through rain or snow and the crystals of the snowflakes would sparkle as they refracted the beams like tiny prisms, he said.

The wind, though, especially if it comes in gusts of 40 mph as predicted, would be trouble. The lasers would not be affected, he said, but the Rhode Island-specific part of the show involves using a 20-by-30 foot mesh projection screen that will be erected in Kennedy Plaza. High winds could prevent that from being used. The show would still go on, with the remaining lasers and lighting effects, a light show of laser beams that can be shot over the plaza and against the surrounding buildings, but the loss of the projection screen would mean no images.

“Weather is unfortunately one of the uncertainties for all types of outdoor events,” he said.

Robertson said an advantage lasers have over fireworks is that they can be precisely controlled and coordinated with music, as anyone who has gone to a modern rock show knows. That allows the operator a certain degree of creativity, he said, choosing images and music and orchestrating them like a conductor.

Laser light shows are a fusion of physics, electronics, graphic arts and plumbing, Robertson said. He came to the business as a graphic artist, joining Daystar in 1993 when it did mostly indoor laser shows for trade shows and small businesses. Since then the technology has developed to a point where bigger, outdoor shows were possible, and in bigger venues such as Kennedy Plaza.

Daystar International, with offices in Rochester, N.Y., and Van Nuys, Calif., will do about 20 to 24 shows like Providence’s a year.

The Providence show will require four lasers, two of which will be running at any given time. Lasers work by electrifying a gas that is kept bottled in a tube. Unlike a light bulb, which diffuses its light by throwing it in all directions, a laser throws off those elections in a narrow beam of visible light.

The gases in the tubes can get quite hot and while newer models are fan-cooled, Robertson said some older models — among those being used tonight — require up to five gallons of water per minute to keep them cool.

“After traveling through 50 feet of hose, it will still be hot enough to make tea,” he said.

jhill@projo.com