Best way to light your room ?

[Sugarwookie]

I have a dark room that has wood paneled walls, I\'d like to turn this into a decent lit painting room, but I\'m having trouble. I\'d love to hear from folks who might have had a hard time and how they solved it with sources and anything you can add.

Thanks,

Wookie

 

[Sand Rat]

I live in an apartment, so I\'m kinda limited to the types of things I can permanantly mount on the walls. That being said, I use three lights - the one in the ceiling, and two swing arm magnifing lamps - one mounted on my work bench (100 watt) and one flourescent. Using them I can pretty much light up anything I want.

 

[Chrispy]

The best way is to get special daylight bulbs. Look aroud your hardware store for them. I\'ve found them in 70 watt but believe me they are tons brighter than regular ones! They looks slightly blue, this helps bloack out yellow light that may screw you up when you\'re mixing colros and looking at your work. I\'ve found two types: a regular daylight bulb that\'s pretty cheap, and one for use with plants. The plant one is about $5 for one... though it was worth it, as it was te best light, the other ones do it\'s job just as well.

PS: Read the directions to the bulb, some get hotter than regular ones and require a ceramic fixture.

 

[supervike]

rip out the walls....

Assuming you don\'t want to put in a brand new bay window or sun light, I think the best value is just a plain lamp.

But, put a REVEAL light bulb in it. The light bulbs are available just about anywhere that sells that sort of thing.

The thing that is great about them is that they are cheaper than \'daylight\' bulbs, but still have a more natural light. (not the yellowish tint regular bulbs put off).

Also try for a more indirect lighting (at least in general). I like to paint at my dining room table and the harsh glare from the ceiling fan light is too much.

I also have an \"ott lite\" and am really impressed by the \'no heat\' but \'very natural\' light it puts off. They are a little pricey though.

Good luck!

 

[Sand Rat]

Ok I\'m going to go slightly off topic here for a moment but Chrispy made me think of this so here it goes - What ever you do do not use a 1000 watt 3200 degree kelvin photo flood lamp - you will be able to see the bones of your hand that is holding the mini and you will probably be able to recast the little sucker after about five minutes - although you will eliminate any pesky shadows in your work area - and the paint from your ceiling eventually. lol

 

[finn17]

Light the mini, not the room..

I have a nice gadget which combines a circular flourescent tube with a high quality glass magnifier. I now can\'t paint without it.

 

[Sugarwookie]

Hey Finn!

Can you tell me the name of this product or where you bougth it sounds neat!

Wookielol

 

[finn17]

Sure thing...

It\'s a firm called Machine Mart. They are quite big inthe UK and sell some really cool stuff. Thay are not the most obvious source of modelling tools however:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=010812040

You can get cheaper ones but they tend to have crap optics and do your eyes in after a couple of minutes. This one has a nice high-quality glass lens. Still makes your eyes go funny about half an hour, you go to stand up and just fall over. Or perhaps it\'s the lager that causes thatlol

 

[airhead]

Originally posted by supervike
...But, put a REVEAL light bulb in it. The light bulbs are available just about anywhere that sells that sort of thing...

Try a halogen light instead. They cost a little more, but the light is much cleaner and truer than even the reveals.

I also have an \"ott lite\" and am really impressed by the \'no heat\' but \'very natural\' light it puts off. They are a little pricey though.

I have seen them, and am saving up for the 18 watt swing arm. If I can can find a cheaper lamp that uses the same bulb, I\'m set.