An interesting side-effect of turning pro is that I can’t always choose when I paint, mostly because I need to paint more. I still need to be producing even when there isn’t enough light to paint by.
As well as painting, I do my free webinars late in the evening, UK time. That’s because the kids are in bed then so I won’t be interrupted (except by the cat) and also because people from all over the world attend them, especially the US, so I try to schedule the webinars for times that most people can easily make.
In both cases, the only option is artificial light.
I’ve always been obsessive about painting by natural light, to the extent that I considered it an integral part of my style (if, indeed, I have a style) so it was with some reluctance that I started using artificial lights.
Actually, I’ve been quite pleasantly surprised. I’ve found that I can still create still life set-ups that look quite natural, and whilst I still very much prefer to paint by natural light if I can, I’ve come to see that artificial light actually has some useful advantages.
For one thing, it’s steady, and will remain so indefinitely. That makes long painting sessions a possibility – although there is always the danger of working too long.
So I’ve come across a few useful facts in my research about lights that I thought it might be useful to share.
What to look for in lights
- High CRI. CRI stands for colour rendering index. This is a must. You want your colours to look the same – or almost the same – when you look at them in daylight. A high CRI means that the lights do a good job of faithfully showing colours when compared to a natural light source.
- Temperature. Ideally, you want it to be around 6500K. This is a cool temperature, will be similar to north light. Doesn’t have to be that high, though.
- Maneuverability. You want stands and you want to be able to angle the lights.
- Have more than one. So that you can have one light on your subject and another on your easel. A set up like this gives you the most flexibility of lighting, and also means that you can careful balance the light on your subject and your painting surface. That can really help to simplify a lot of the problems of realist painting. One of the advantages of artificial lighting is flexibility, so you want to be able to take advantage of that as much as you can.
The lights I use
These lights are made for photography. I actually got them for filming videos, but soon realised they would also be useful for painting.
The downside is the CRI. The bulbs that come with the lights, as far as I can ascertain, are only about CRI 80. I spend a lot of time and effort on colour, so I want to be sure that the colours I paint with will look as close as possible in daylight to what I see when I’m painting.
So the first thing I did was to change the bulbs for these:
Now, I’m not actually recommending you use these bulbs. My electrical knowledge is practically non-existent, and these bulbs are physically a little too big for the heads. They’re also quite a bit brighter. For all I know, that’s dangerous. But I have been using them for some time now without any obvious problems.
The point here is that if you get these lights, you need to change the bulbs for ones with a higher CRI.
Also, These are fluorescents, which means that they are a bit peaky. By “peaky”, I mean that certain narrow bands of the frequency range are accentuated. that’s true of all fluorescents.
That may affect how you perceive some colours under lights like this. I’ve certainly noticed that, under these lights, some of the Munsell chips appear to be slightly out in hue, compared to other chips on the same page. I think this is probably due to peaks in the spectrum. I don’t notice it by daylight.
But generally, they’re fine, you can worry about these things too much. My approach to colour is very exacting, and if I wan’t using Munsell to manage colour, I doubt I’d notice that at all.
The great thing about these lights is the flexibility for the cost. Although the stands are a little flimsy, they’re fine if you’re careful with them.
You get three heads, although I only ever use two. You can have two or four bulbs switched on in each head.
They also come with softboxes which are brilliant for taking that hard edged look away and making the light look more natural. If you get lights that don’t come with diffusers, you’ll probably want to improvise something to soften the edges of the shadows.
One of the stands is heavier weight and comes with a big boom arm which can be used to position a light above the subject. Top-down lighting can look really dramatic on a still life, so that’s useful too.
Overall, for the price, and if you change the bulbs, these lights are great.
Solux lights
The only other type of light I have are Solux bulbs.
I used to use them exclusively and sometimes still do, and they’re great. The temperature is a little warmer, more like an overcast day. That’s just preference, really.
The CRI is high, and the frequency response across the spectrum is very flat, no peaks, more like daylight. The only thing I have against them is that they’re not very strong, and if you put a diffuser in front of them you lose too much light. But they’re still very usable.
LED lights
A lot of people are using LED lights for painting by these days. I haven’t experimented with them yet, but will soon. My friend Julian Merrow-Smith of Postcard from Provence fame occasionally uses an LED to paint by, and is very impressed with it. A recommendation from anyone who paints as well as he does should be taken seriously, so that will be my next buy.
What about you?
Let me know in the comments what type of lights you use for painting, how you find them and how you use them.
Best wishes and thanks for reading,
Paul
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Hi
I haven’t seen when your webinars are being held, I am interested in attending.
Please send me your schedule.
Thanks
Pam Lazorchak
Hi Paul,
Yes, I use a PhotoGeeks lamp too. I also have a Daylight Company lamp which is very good and comes with one of those larger bulbs.
http://www.artdiscount.co.uk/daylight-artist-studio-lamp-stand-32w.html
I became convinced that artificial lights would work well after going to the theatre to see an opera during which the stage lighting simulated bright outdoor spring sunshine so convincingly that it almost seemed more real than reality.
Another great bonus, I find, is that the bright simulated daylight in the evening or night actually seems to re-energise me at the end of the day, presumably because it tricks my metabolism into believing that it’s morning. I have read that such lighting is often used in workplaces for that very reason, especially where staff have to work night shifts.
I hope your recovery is going well.
Adrian
Artists, at least in the US, should be prepared for frustration if they ask about CRI ratings. In my admittedly limited, but very frustrating experience, CRI is not a concept that is understood by electricians and bulb salespersons. Fortunately, some manufacturers are now putting the CRI rating on the box, so it is possible to bypass an electrician or bulb salesperson who, when you ask about CRI rating, will likely say, “Oh, you mean Kelvin”.
I’ve been using two 5000k light bulbs in the ceiling fixture for studio work. ( I haven’t been doing any still life where I need light on a set up) Anyway, it’s great for painting. I can see the colors really well, etc. The problem is that because the lights are so bright my paintings turn out really dark. In normal light they are hard to see. So I guess I can’t use them because nobody is going to be viewing the paintings in that light after they leave my studio.
I agree with Deborah Lonergan that in the US, most clerks don’t know anything about CRI or Kelvin. And since neither is printed on bulb boxes or lamps, we’re pretty much left in the dark, so to speak, when it comes to finding our way. In my art studio I have some ceiling lights, a standard lamp that attaches to my easel and a few Ott lamps. It involves a lot of trial and error on colour mixing, trying to match what I see outdoors on a sunny day compared to what I’m mixing indoors in my studio. And of course, one can’t run outside to check a colour after the sun begins to set. Frustrating – but making colour chips helps. The last Ott lamp I purchased is my “monster” lamp. The thing is so intensely bright it could light up a football stadium. I aim it at the white ceiling for reflected light. Thanks for your “enlightening” post, Paul.
i wish i can paint better like you do, but i guess were i am facilities, tools, materials are not much readily available for use. i need a help on this. i am also a self tough artist how wish to go places with the little i know and get developed and teach others too. i really need your advice on this…. thanks am one of your art woks admirers.
Hi Paul,
This is off the subject of the lights, but, I was wondering if you had any advice on how to set up a painting studio. My basement is being finished and I will be using part of it as my studio.
TIA,
Deborah
Hi Paul
Thank you so much for writing this useful information on artificial lights for painting 🙂
I am just about to buy the set you have recommended, but since the date of your writing was in February 2017, I thought I would check with you whether you still recommend the same kit and the same bulbs?
Do you use your lights without having any ceiling lights? I have not got any ceiling lights and would prefer not to have them. I am planning to paint still life objects. Hope you will have the time to answer my questions. Thanks.
Kind regards
Helle
Hi Helle,
Yes that set should still be good. There are more options now though, with LED lights that I haven’t looked into yet – the technology is always changing and (hopefully) improving! The one thing I would say now about those lights is that at 6500k those bulbs are very “cold” – if I were doing it all again I think I’d look for slightly warmer buLbs, about 5400k.
I use only those lights, so as to replicate as much as possible the effect of painting in the natural light of a window. Although, these days I have a studio with good light so I always work in natural light now. It’s definitely much better, if you can do it.
Hi Paul
Thank you for your reply 🙂 I can see that your link to your lights on Amazon is a different set now, without a boom arm, but I will go for that and also aim for bulbs of 5400k. Yes, I agree, in my modest experience, natural light is much better.
Best wishes
Helle
Hi Paul
Great work and also thanks for all the info.
Stupid question maybe …; what I see on the web when researching, is the about 3500K or so is “neutral” … wouldn’t one want more a neutral light rather than a “daylight”? I mean paintings are seldom viewed in outside daylight and I personally would think neutral would be more desired to get a more True color (as compared to either warmer or cooler) … Very interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks in advance.
Well I think people usually go for 6400 or so because it’s supposed to be close to the classic north light – light reflected of a blue sky. But it is very cool. I have other lights at 5000k and prefer those, I can’t say I’ve tried any at around 3500 so hard to say. But the main thing is not so much the temp, it’s the CRI – colour rendering index. The closer you can get to daylight CRI the better. Above 90 is good.