Help with studio lighting

[StarvinArtist]

Hi all,

I'm new to the sight, but I did search the forums for advice on creating lighting for my oil painting studio, which is simply a second bedroom. The results I found are so overwhelming! Therefore, I thought I would create a thread to describe my current lighting situation and the problem with it, in the hope that someone will share a simpler solution than to look for bulbs with 6500 something or other on them or kelvins or whatnots.

Basically, I need a really bright floor lamp that doesn't produce heat. Here's why:

To create a neutral environment, I painted my walls a soft gray, and use a hideous garage work light that provides 1000 watts of halogen light. I angle the lamps to shine directly on the wall, so that the reflective light is more neutral.

This has worked fairly well, but my goodness does that monstrosity put off heat! With summer beginning, my time in the studio is becoming increasingly limited, so I'm looking for other options. I am unable to post pictures since I'm new, but if you'd like to google what I have, it's called a "Utilitech 1000-watt Halogen Work Light."

Thanks in advance for any help! --Mary

[libby2]

Forget the Halogen. Get some clamp on fixtures, less than $20 ea, some CFL's around 3000 - 3500 kelvin. You won't have any heat problems, can clamp the lights & direct them anywhere you like. Use extension cords if needed. I like to mix in regular light bulbs too.

Adding: here's a link to a post similar to yours where I've answered with more info inc. pics and links on how to make light stands. Hope this helps to answer your question.

[StarvinArtist]

Thanks, Libby!

[wsrea]

Mary, I agree with Libby. Hard to paint when you're pouring sweat.

My studio is at the end of the house's air conditioning ducts and, facing east, gets very warm. I used to use the clamp lights but ran out of surfaces to clamp them to. I got this floor lamp at Lowes for about $25-30, and use 60 watt compact fluorescent bulbs (also bought at Lowes) in two different temperatures, one bluer and one warmer to get a balanced light. I can direct the five heads anywhere I want. Voila--300 watts of light and virtually no heat.

[caldwell.brobeck]

I agree with using the clamp on fixtures (I use them) but I would stay away from CFLs if you are paying attention to colour. Their spectra are terrible - very spikey and uneven, especially when compared natural light which is pretty flat, or incadescents, which are flattish. The natural tendency when working in CFL's is to overly tone down colour where the spectral peaks are, and to excessively boost colour in the spectral valleys, so the results often look unexpected when seen in normal light. Here's a link to some comparative spectra. I would also advise against using CFL's in clamp ons because the fixtures occasionally fall and the light can get broken, and you need to take extra precautions when cleaning up CFLs. (That's a link to the EPA page, I assume they know what they are talking about).

Halogen is very biased, basically sloping up from negligible at the blue end to strongest at the red - in fact most of its spectrum is concentrated in the infrared and beyond, which is why halogens are so hot.

Personally I'm quite happy with incandescents of the daylight variety for the bulk of my work. They do put out some heat, but then again, I live in a cool climate, so it doesn't go to waste.