Buying a lamp for painting at night - What to buy?

[Olaf the Stout]

Since I work during the day and don't get home until it's dark, most of my free time for painting is at night. I can paint during the day on weekends but that would limit my painting considerably.

I've tried painting with a normal light supplemented with a desk lamp but it just doesn't seem to cut it. The light just isn't bright enough. On top of that, being a normal household globe, the lamp gives off a slightly yellow light, resulting in the colours looking slightly different at night compared during the day. So with that in mind I'm looking for a new lamp that I can use to light my painting area.

I've had a little look around on the internet to see what's best. Top of the range seems to be the special "daylight" lamps. These supposedly give off a light that replicates natural light. They also have a very expensive price tag to match. At this stage of my painting career I'm not prepared to spend $150+ on one of these.

I think the next best option might be a fluorescent light. These give off a whiter light compared to your standard light globe. The other suggestion I got from a light shop I called was a halogen light. I'm not too sure about that though. We have some of them outside. They are nice and bright but the light is still a bit yellow. The other worry I have about them is the heat they give out. I wonder if the amount of heat they put out will result in my paint drying too quickly on my palette, brush and mini.

So does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should get?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Doug Sundseth]

I use GE Reveal bulbs (incandescent) in swing-arm lamps. They have a decent color temperature; they're inexpensive, and they produce relatively even light across the visible spectrum.

I know people who swear by OTT lights, but they're expensive and I think they're too blue. They are much cooler than the Reveals though.

I wouldn't recommend standard fluorescents, though. They have uneven intensity across the frequency range of visible light, which can cause very odd effects, both in painting and in photography later.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I've had a look at the OTT lamps. They're a bit pricey but I haven't been able to find anything similar here in Australia (we don't seem to have the Reveal lightbulbs). Since I'm looking to buy a lamp anyway I may just bite the bullet and get one. There certainly doesn't seem to be anything else that I could find that does the job.

Olaf the Stout

 

[bento]

I've had a look at the OTT lamps. They're a bit pricey but I haven't been able to find anything similar here in Australia (we don't seem to have the Reveal lightbulbs). Since I'm looking to buy a lamp anyway I may just bite the bullet and get one. There certainly doesn't seem to be anything else that I could find that does the job.

Olaf the Stout

Look for any bulb thats tinged a bit blue - that's what Reveal look like. They promise more natural look than clear bulbs, which shift the spectrum more to yellows.

Personally, nothing can beat sunlight. And if you can't do that, use multiple sources of light. At night I use the chandelear at the dining room table with a spot or two.

 

[pogre]

I use GE Reveal bulbs (incandescent) in swing-arm lamps. They have a decent color temperature; they're inexpensive, and they produce relatively even light across the visible spectrum.

I know people who swear by OTT lights, but they're expensive and I think they're too blue. They are much cooler than the Reveals though.

I wouldn't recommend standard fluorescents, though. They have uneven intensity across the frequency range of visible light, which can cause very odd effects, both in painting and in photography later.

I have three lamps - two Otts and a swing lamp with a reveal. Here in the states Michael's Crafts has outrageous sales on the Otts - I picked some up for $20 each this past winter. I like the reveal bulbs too. If you can cool running daylight bulbs and put them in a swing lamp it should work well. Not much help for Australia though - sorry.

 

[Doug Sundseth]

I've had a look at the OTT lamps. They're a bit pricey but I haven't been able to find anything similar here in Australia (we don't seem to have the Reveal lightbulbs). Since I'm looking to buy a lamp anyway I may just bite the bullet and get one. There certainly doesn't seem to be anything else that I could find that does the job.

According to the GE's Reveal website, they have a neodymium coating on the inside of the bulb to raise the color temperature nearer that of true daylight. If you can find any sort of daylight incandescent, though, it will probably suffice.

For some graphs that show the issue, you might want to take a look at this GE website. Actual daylight has a smooth distribution curve; everything else is spiky. And most fluorescents are especially spiky. The result when painting miniatures is that heavily saturated colors (that reflect especially strongly in one or more narrow frequency ranges) can look very different under fluorescent light than under daylight.

ps. I did actually think about whether GE might sell in Oz, but decided to take a chance. Sorry about that. You might be able to mail order from North America; FWIW, the bulbs seem to run US$0.50 - US$0.75 each in the US and they don't weigh much.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I decided to bite the bullet and get a "Daylight" lamp (Daylight is the brand of the lamps - see website link here). They are basically the same as OTT lamps, just a different brand name. The exact lamp I got is here.

It was a little pricey ($120 AUD - about $110 USD) but I did get it on a 20% off special. Normally they are $150 AUD. I haven't tried it out yet (I just bought it in my lunch break) so I can't say how much of a difference it makes but I can say that it is sturdy. For a table lamp this sucker sure does weigh a lot. I was starting to get sore arms as I walked back to my office building!

Hopefully it is worth the money.

Olaf the Stout