In my newsletter today, I talked about the events in Ottawa this week and I shared a bit of my personal perspective. Here I shall continue on with some of the contents of that newsletter and the topic is lighting.
Lighting can be a big concern for artists. When we are seeing
colour, we are actually seeing light waves being reflected off of a surface.
Imagine how yellow sunlight warms up the colours in a room.
Think about how it affects the subject matter being painted as well as the
colour of the paper or canvas. Now imagine the effect if the studio were lit
only by fluorescent bulbs.
Admittedly this can be a complicated subject. An in depth
discussion would take into account how the colour temperature of light bulbs is
measured in Kelvin units, how brightness is measured in lumens and how there
are colour rendering index ranges to consider. BUT we aren’t going to go there! J
Let’s keep this simple...
First up, diffused natural light is considered the best light
for an artist to work under. For many centuries, large windows that face north
have been considered the ideal studio environment. This is the direction from
which sunlight is always indirect, regardless of the season or time of day.
This constant, relatively cool light prevents changes in the light-dark
patterns on your subject matter (whether a still life or a studio model).
Imagine how important light entering from windows was for
artists prior to electric lighting. Ever tried to do anything by candles in a
power outage? In Rembrandt’s day, you would need an awful lot of candles and
lanterns to properly light up a studio in non-daylight hours!
Of course not all artists are fortunate enough to have large
north light windows. Perhaps the light is blocked by a tall building close by or
perhaps light from a north window is competing with strong afternoon light from
a west window (you can use heavy drapes to block this light but not everyone
wants to do this). Or maybe you have carved out a space to work in the basement
and large windows are not an option. Perhaps your only hours to create art are
in the evenings, after the sun has set. Don’t despair...
A great way to
achieve consistent lighting is through artificial light.
Artists can choose to use light bulbs that emit a warm light or
a cool light. Light bulbs can also be purchased that emit a spectrum of light
similar to daylight.
A combination of
lighting is the easiest way to go and is often the most effective. For example, you can use one type of bulb in overhead
lights and then use a different type of bulb, for balance, in a desk or floor
lamp.
But here is something else to consider...
I suggest that a very
important issue is location, location, location.
Where will the
artwork hang once it is finished?
Have you ever noticed how artwork created under bright lights
seems to lose its intensity when hung on a wall in a room with low lighting?
Take whatever you are working on right now and test this. Move
around the house holding your art up against various walls. Can you see how the
different lighting arrangements in your house changes how much detail you can
see in your art? Perhaps the colours don’t glow as much.
Living rooms and dining rooms are usually a lot less bright when
compared to our studios. Hallways often have no source of natural light.
See how your art work looks in the evening, after dark,
when artificial light is all that we have. You may be quite surprised to see
how much your art changes.
Most art collectors hang art in homes that are not lit like
professional art galleries or studios.
Also, to preserve the
integrity of the pigment colours, remember that fine art should not be hung in
areas of direct bright light.
Therefore, keep
in mind that you art work needs to look great under normal circumstances not
just in a fabulously lit studio.
My own studio makes us of a combination of lighting sources. I
have many windows in my studio and they face south, west and north. I have
halogen track lights overhead and I also have a desk light clipped to my
drafting table that has a daylight spectrum bulb in it. I find this bulb really
helps create a nice light in the room when I am working after dark. Sometimes
during the day I have to keep this light off as it can skew how I see my work. I
also have a floor lamp and a table lamp so my studio offers lots of lighting
options.
This is a picture of me during a studio tour and I am holding up
a work in progress. I chose this picture as you can see the west facing window
behind me (one of two) and my drafting table is facing a south facing window. I
position my table here as I love the view of the forest, not because of the
light. J
There is another south window on that side of the room and two
north facing windows across from where I am sitting. You can see one of my
track lights in the ceiling. I have eight moveable lights on two strips down
the center of the room and finally you can see my desk lamp which as I said
above has the daylight spectrum bulb in it. My laptop is on my drafting table
so I could work from my reference photo of peas in a pod. The pillow dangling
over a lower bar of my table is a cushion for my feet while I work – in case
you were wondering!
Once you have a handle on your lighting requirements, you might
want to consider the colours of your studio walls and how they change the light
in the room. Artists familiar with the concept of bounce light – reflected
light that is bounced off of coloured surfaces – choose to paint their walls
specific colours. For example some choose neutrals like a gray-green. Others go
for a neutral white to accurately reflect the hue of the light onto the
contents of the room.
My studio was very dark when we moved in so I painted all
of the dark woodwork trim, including my dark brown, stained plywood floors a
specific shade of white. It was a lot of work but it made a huge difference. I
also had to install the overhead track lighting as the room had no overhead
lights.
If you need more convincing of the power of light to
change the look of your art, take one of your pieces outside and snap a photo
in natural light (a lightly shaded area works better than strong direct
sunlight). Next, take the same piece of art and photograph it while lit by an
incandescent bulb. Finally, photograph your art being lit by a florescent
light. Now compare your photos. You will be amazed.
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A bit of trivia
for you:
Light changes from warm to cool depending on the time of day and
where on the planet you are located.
Sunrise and sunset light is warmer because it goes through more
of the earth’s atmosphere as it skims the horizon and the atmosphere changes
the temperature of the light.
Sunlight at noon is cool.
Locations with intensely blue skies can create the effect of
even cooler light because light is bouncing off of the blue sky and mixing with
the pure sunlight.
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