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How to Light Your Art Studio :
Why it is Important to Get Our Art Studio Lighting Right
Light is an essential aspect of any art studio to generate complete painting. It determines the colors you see in a picture, and therefore the colors your audience will see. Lighting will influence every color decision you make, and should, therefore, be taken seriously.
As a result, you must get your art studio lighting correct to create the perfect atmosphere for working. Ensure you put all your effort into setting up the light in your art studio to avoid bad lightings
Bad lighting can affect your painting since different light can create a different feel of the colors. You may end up compensate for poor lighting with the use of cold, warm, bright, or dull colors that will not deliver according to your original plan.
Lighting changes how a painting looks after you are finished painting. For example, studio lighting that is too warm and dim will make you overcompensate with a palette that is too cool and pale. When taken to the natural light, you will notice an over-painting with a blue cast.
Bad artist studio lighting can also make you cast a shadow upon your painting. As a result, you need to determine the best indoor light and appear similar to the natural outdoor lighting. This entails doing an audit of the lighting you already have before purchasing any additional lamps.
In most cases, more light does not necessarily mean a better view of your art studio. Instead, it would help if you had a great balance of light that will make it pleasing to paint. Sometimes you only need to adjust your lighting as opposed to getting a new lamp. The adjusting can involve replacing the overhead light with a better color-balanced bulb. You can also choose to change the position of your easel to match the lighting.
The Angle of The Light
When painting your masterpiece, the first thing to consider is the angle. The ideal angle from the primary source should be 45 degrees to the painting, but this can vary in one way or another.
Like windows, the lamps in an art studio have to be elevated above the easel to prevent seeing a reflection in the painting. The bulb should also be far enough from the easel to avoid creating a hot spot on the canvas. This is why lamps that clamp onto the easel will not work well.
The right angle of the light to painting helps in crafting a better image. In most cases, the primary light needs to come from the side, with other painting studio lighting coming directly from above or from slightly over the shoulder opposite the hand you paint.
This positioning stops your active painting hand from casting a shadow on the area of the paint. It also prevents glare from bounding off the wet paint into your eyes.
The idea is to spread the light evenly over your painting and make sure it receives equal lighting. A poor spread will affect how to paint some parts of the canvas. Also, ensure the picture gets enough light while avoiding it from bouncing back at you. Ideally, you are supposed to place your easel at an angle of 25 degrees from the painting to avoid light from bouncing.
In most cases, the light you will use in an art studio will make colors to appear different compared to natural light. For example, grey color in a picture can appear different when viewed in a hallway without natural light. Make sure the light source in your art studio is strategically placed to provide enough lighting for the painting.
The Intensity of the Light
The second aspect of art studio lighting is its intensity, which helps create a great painting. The strength of light is determined by the distance between a lamp and the picture.
The light will be weaker when there is a greater distance from the painting, affecting your ability to paint better. Secondly, it will be determined by the actual intensity of the different types of lights.
When considering the intensity of light, it is also essential to look at its brightness from the lamps. This brightness is based on the distance of the painting from the power source. The further your light source is from you, the dimmer it gets. In-studio lighting is not just what the lamp produces but the amount of light that arrives at your canvas.
Consider the number of watts in a bulb before setting up studio lighting as it determines the intensity it has in the room. When comparing the strength of two lamps, consider their lumens and not watts to determine how much light is produced.
Ideally, your art studio room requires a high wattage LED fluorescent bulbs. These have been proven to produce the correct intensity needed to complete a painting. The lamps have the right specification with color temperature to provide the proper energy for your art studio.
Recommended to read: Best Light Boxes for Artists
Artificial Versus Natural Light
Natural light comes through the north-facing windows from the sun. A north-facing window allows an abundance of light to get into the studio during the daytime. The natural light provides the best illumination with a full-spectrum for painting. People tend to have the windows facing north because it provides the right natural light while avoid direct light from the sun.
However, you will be needed to add artificial light to your art studio through light bulbs. Like windows, artificial light has to be elevated above the easel as a strategy to stop seeing its reflection in the painting. You also have to be aware of bounced light that can affect your picture.
There are several benefits of artificial light in an art studio when compared to natural light. The most obvious one is the consistency of artificial light, where you don’t have to worry about its changing intensity and temperature. Also, with artificial light, you paint at any time of the day without worrying about its availability.
In a perfect world, an art studio requires both natural and artificial studio to facilitate your painting. There are bulbs in the lighting industry that mimic properties of sunlight and perform better than others. When purchasing bulbs for providing the artificial light, make sure it is compatible with your existing features. The most efficient bulbs are fluorescent because they offer excellent luminous.
What does CRI mean?
CRI refers to the ability of a light to illuminate colors in their natural order. It is measured by a rating that determines how well a light source can reveal the colors. The CRI determines how colors appear in natural daylight and how they do in an artificial light.
The index is measured from 0 to 100, where 100 has colors in a lamp appear similar to natural sunlight.
The natural daylight has a CRI of 100, but bulbs will have up to 80 to illuminate vibrantly. You always have to target getting the 100 CRI by balancing the rendering results. Full-spectrum lighting is when the bulbs can mimic the properties of sunlight.
The full-spectrum is an important aspect of studio art lighting as you can mix a full range of colors accurately.
When purchasing lights for your art studio, always check for its CRI rating. Higher classification of the light is usually correlated with better lighting. Fluorescent bulbs with a CRI of 96 are the best available on the market.
The bulbs sold on the market are designed with their respective CRI ratings. As a result, ensure you read the package carefully before purchasing a lamp.
What is the Color Temperature?
Temperature is another aspect of the light that plays a role in operating within the art studio. The color temperature is affected by changes in natural daylight throughout the day and seasons. Similarly, light sources in an art studio vary in temperature, which can affect how you perceive colors in the studio.
The light sources have different color temperatures with varying effects on the art studio. When painting, you will notice a difference in your colors based on the temperature of the day.
For example, under warm light, your red pigment will not be the same as painting under the cold light of a day. With natural daylight, the color temperature keeps changing subtly. This is why artificial light is crucial when painting to maintain temperature.
The color temperature of the lamp for an art studio is measured on a Kelvin scale. The color temperature is based on a Kelvin scale where each color temperature produces a different color. For example, a Kelvin of 2700K would glow Yellowish-white while the one up to 5400K glows bluish-white. The higher the color temperature, the colder and bluer it becomes.
It would help if you had the right balance of the color temperature between warmth and coolness. In an art studio, the best way to create an illusion of midday sun is to get bulbs with a CCT of 5500K. On the other hand, if you want cooler north, then you can purchase bulbs rated 7500K. Noon daylight has a temperature of 5500 K while the north light blue sky will have between 7500k and 10,000k.
Summary
Lighting an art studio to paint accurate colors and values can be daunting. Fortunately, there are several lighting options at your disposal that can help you create a masterpiece painting. The important thing is to ensure you have the right angle of the right, balanced color temperature, and enough intensity.
You can achieve this by installing several compact lamp bulbs and secure them at a 45-degree angle to your painting. The light, temperature, and brightness influence the lighting of an art studio allows you to paint well. However, there is no perfect lighting solution, and you will have to adjust now and then. Creativity is also required to determine the best combination of the art studio light.
