How to light a painter´s studio. That was the question I had to answer in my new studio in Chelva.
I decided to use a fluorescent lighting. Using eight fluorescent tubes of 150 cm. I soon noticed that painting in artificial light is rather tricky. Although I used daylight tubes my portraits became far too red in real daylight conditions. So I had to change the tubes for more specialized ones.
Now I have four Osram l 58w./965 luminlux de luxe and four Philips TLD90-85w./950 de luxe, alternately mounted.
I fixed strips of transparent paper under the lamps for spreading the light.
Now I am happy with the quality of the light.
If your studio has a white ceiling think of a lighting that bounces off of it. It produces a more diffused illumination.
Dear Ben,
Thanx for sharing this information. I also happen to have the philips tubes. Why did you use both philps and osram combined? Do you know if there is any difference or is it just the different temperatures you want to mix?
Jos
Hi Jos. The tubes have different temperatures so I want them to mix.
Ben
What temperature are the tubes. And how high above you’re easel are the lights and are they directly over the easel
Thank you
Jay
Hi Jay.
The Osram tube is 6500K and the Philips is 5000K. The distance to the floor is 3 mts., and the light comes slightly on my back when I am painting.
Thank you,
I placed the lights last week and now
have good light to paint.
Another question; not about lights..
What canvas specifications do you use to get good
Detail in your portraits when applying your oil paint. Thank you
Jay
Hi Jay.
I buy the best heavy duty canvas that I can lay my hands on.There is available special portrait canvas, but I don´t like the super smooth texture. I prefer to see some indication of canvas.
However what canvas you use, be sure to apply at least 3 layers of gesso. That is fundamental, even when the manufacturer says it it “double primed”.
Thanks for that interesting light design Ben. Hi Jos! With this design it seems the light can be raised or lowered to fine tune. Jos, I hear that florescent bulbs kind of have spikes where one light frequency gets over expressed. My thought is that using multiple frequencies would reduce the strength of the spikes. Ben, again I love the simple diffuser idea, I was about to build an overly heavy contraption for myself. You saved me!
Thanks for that interesting light design Ben. Hi Jos! With this design it seems the light can be raised or lowered to fine tune. Jos, I hear that florescent bulbs kind of have spikes where one light frequency gets over expressed. My thought is that using multiple frequencies would reduce the strength of the spikes. Ben, again I love the simple diffuser idea, I was about to build an overly heavy contraption for myself. You saved me!
Hi Ben,
Hi Ben,
Thanks Ben
Ben,
I purchased 11ounce and 15 ounce raw Belgian linen canvas…
How many coats of gesso is required on raw linen canvas..
Jay
Ben,
I purchased 11ounce and 15 ounce raw Belgian linen canvas…
How many coats of gesso is required on raw linen canvas..
Jay
Hi Ben,
I purchased raw 11 ounce and 15 ounce belgian Linen canvas
How many coats of acrylic gesso do I need before oil painting.
Do I need to place a size on canvas first such as PVC or rabbits glue
Or is just acrylic gesso adequate.
Regards
Jay
Hi Jay.
Belgian linen canvas is GOLD. It is really important to put size on the raw canvas. I use two layers of a low-viscosity flexible synthetic resin.The reason to prime canvas or panel is to keep your oil layers from migrating to the canvas or support. Later I add at least three layers of gesso.
This will be great.