Studio Lights

[paintfool]

I have great northern and western exposure windows in my studio but do a lot of my work at night. My current lighting situation is lousy! I am looking for some decent lights. Any soggestions? Has any one used OTT-Lights? Thanks, Cheryl

[oleCC]

Cheryl..I am in the middle of a similar situation here. I heard of a flourescent (sp?) light that is supposed to be like true day light.. maybe someone here is using this?
OTT is another one I heard about, but have not seen. I spent mega bucks on an electrician attempting to get the best lighting for my students....NOT....so, beware of so called "experts"....lol http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif Carol

[CarlyHardy]

I have a friend who has the true daylight flourescent bulbs in his studio. They are awesome! You can buy the fixtures at Home Depot or most home warehouse stores...then purchase the bulbs separately. They are not cheap but he says they last a lot longer than the regular bulbs and the effect is wonderful. He has one directly above his work, one to the right and one to the left. All are hanging from the ceiling with chains so that he can position them over the work in progress. He also is able to take slide photos of his work on the easel without flash. I've seen these and they are really good too.

I have a three bulb fixture over my easel that I use the daylight bulbs in and I find that they are better than regular light bulbs. I also use a halogen light which reflects off the ceiling creating a brighter working space. I take my photos on the easel also without flash.

carly

[paintfool]

Carol & Carly, thanks for the input. Carol, my husband and i are very familiar with wiring. We have done much remodeling in our home! So i don't have to worry about that part thank goodness. Carly, can the true daylight bulbs also be [urchased at Home Deopt or do i have to go to a specialty shop? Thanks again. Cheryl

[billyg]

Hi Cheryl, here in the dark depths of NZ I have a blue light next to my water colour workplace and it works fine for me at night, especially for yellows which are weird under normal light.
Bill

[oleCC]

billyg.....Blue lights? Never heard of doing that but whatever works ..right?
Carly.. I just fixed my night problem by using a two bulb standing "torch" lamp. I love the new lighting - no shadows and now I can keep on keepin on....lol http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif Carol

[bruin70]

northern light is for CONSISTANT light. it remains the smae durine the entire day. my studio lighting is very bright. a bank of 6 flourescents. four are warm whites and two are incandescent flourescent. i need the yellow because all my art gets seen under indoor lighting....{M}

[4vincent]

Cheryl,
In my studio I have Ultra Lume lights (8ft flor) mounted near the ceiling (about 18ft high); they seem to work okay for the night
work.
Now I bought these at a place called Rueff Lighting in Louisville Ky., they had a setup
with miniature openings built along one wall
with different lighting setups in each. This
way one can compare. While I know this place is nowhere near you, I thought perhaps a
lighting store in your community might have a
similar setup. 4vincent

[msue]

I use a couple of the "daylight" bulbs purchased from Home Depot to paint by. My lighting still isn't very good because I don't have the right kind of fixtures, but they do last a long time. I read an article recently (probably Artist Magazine) about a lighting problem and they pretty much said to use a combination of regular flourscent and incandescent bulbs. They claimed the "daylight" bulbs aren't true after several hours of use. Another company making bulbs that are suppose to simulate true daylight is Verilux.

[bruin70]

the problem i see with daylight bulbs, msue, is that your art will be seen under indoor lighting. given the circumstances under which most all art is seen, indoors,,,, daylight is not true light...{M}

[Painter]

What is? I use the verilux bulbs and am interested in the ott lights also, but have never even seen them.

------------------
God Blesses!
Ched

[KDS]

Originally posted by bruin70:
northern light is for CONSISTANT light. it remains the same during the entire day. my studio lighting is very bright. a bank of 6 flourescents. four are warm whites and two are incandescent flourescent. i need the yellow because all my art gets seen under indoor lighting....{M}

I am very interested in your comments on the use of northern light (which is being reproduced by Ott, Verilux, etc. You say in your studio that you use bright lighting that is 4 parts warm white to 2 parts yellow? Doesn't flourescent lighting have a blue cast to it? Please help me out here as I am trying to come up with an ideal lighting for a darker studio. Are you saying that it is better to balance the yellow/blue light ratio than it is to invest in a northern light product because most art work is seen under a warm yellow light? I have noticed that in more and more galleries, they are splitting the lights over the exhibited art work so that there is half yellow and half blue lighting. Some artists who use the northern light products say that their colors come out too cool on the canvas overall. So my question to you is do you feel that the correct yellow/blue lighting ratio is better than the duplication of northern daylight products Thanks for your input. http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif Karen

------------------

[paintfool]

There is a web site for ott lights www.ottlites.com (http://www.ottlites.com) but when i last checked it wasn't up yet Cheryl

[paintfool]

sorry, that's www.ott-lite.com (http://www.ott-lite.com) Cheryl

[LDianeJohnson]

Any form of florescent lighting tends to make my eyes sting. So for many years now I have used multiple ceiling floods, mixing cool halogens with warm incandescent to give a good balance of light for working on rainy days, or evenings.

------------------
LDianeJohnson.com (http://www.LDianeJohnson.com)

[bruin70]

flourescent comes in many colors. warm whites are,,,,,,,warm as opposed to the blue cast you get with regular flourescents. and i use the yellow flourescents to give me the effect of incandescents. even with this heavy balance towards a very warm yellowish cast,,,i was surprised at what my painting looked like when i had an opportunity to see it in a home,,,,which was all yellow. you have to ask yourself how most people will hang your art. if you think the gallery gives the best balance then match them....{M}

[Marla]

I bought a Chromalux full spectrum bulb from Cheap Joes for the clip on lamp I used on my easel and wasn't happy because the bulb was too big for this pitiful little lamp that was in my way and blinding me so I splurged for an Ott-Lite Truecolor Floor Lamp from Art To Art(www.art2art.com) and love it! It was only $109.99 with an 18 watt bulb. Versus $149 and up at other places. Suppose to get 3000 hours of use I believe but I bought a replacement bulb anyway for $19.99 which was also cheaper than other stores. I really think this lamp was worth it. It's full spectrum and I use it day and night.

[Little Bear]

Hey Bruin,

Can you get the warm whites and incandescent flourescent bulbs at most stores? Are they like the long slender bulbs in offices?

[bruin70]

probably not. especially for the incandescant flourescant. you have to go to a lighting store.....{M}