One of the most frustrating problems I have had and most painters face at one time or another is finding the correct lighting for your studio.
If you paint at night or don’t have a skylight in your studio you need light. The problem is getting the correct temperature light so that your painting looks the same in daylight as it does when you painted it under your studio light.
The temperature of the most incandescent bulbs or florescent tubes can vary greatly but most painters prefer to paint under 5500k which is the color of north light. North light is the preferred light of most traditional painters such as John Singer Sargent, Richard Schmid, Anders Zorn to name a few, because it is a soft, cool and consistent light source.
In the past I had used a few different color florescent tubes to replicate north light in my studio and it was ok. The problem was I had a few different color florescent tubes and the fixtures were starting to hum and they flickered. I was starting to lose my mind…….
So I consulted a couple of lighting experts, here is their blog post where they go into much more detail about lighting Steropsis.com
They told me were to buy correctly balanced florescent tubes. They suggested t8 florescent tubes, the thinner tubes, which are more efficient don’t hum or flicker ! Here is the link where you can purchase these tubes T8 5000k
They are around $5.50 a piece. You can also purchase them through Amazon. Unfortunately you can’t buy these tubes at Home Depot or Lowes. You can however buy the fixture at Home Depot or most lighting stores. The type of fixture you are going to need will depend on the size of your studio space just make sure it holds t8 tubes. I have two four tube fixtures in my studio.
Here is an example Home Depot.
All of this shouldn’t cost you more then $200.00 and it is well worth it! My studio now has new t8 5000k lights and they are unbelievably nice. I was actually quit surprised at how close these lights are to natural light. Thank You Lorna and Mike!
