From: NeuschelerP@aol.com
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2001 20:32:33 EST
Subject: Re: [mini-painter] Proper lighting

Greg Cugini writes: I had heard that fluorescence were the worst light to paint by...

Direct sunlight is the best lighting you can get, though some prefer indirect sunlight because of the extreme brightness of direct rays. Artists who can manage it will have natural lighting for their studios. That said, most of us have to paint after the sun is down, and require artificial light. Whatever lighting you like is best for you. Small changes in shading caused by differing lighting will not hurt your work. After all, it is highly likely that your finished work will be observed under artificial light - and often in a convention locale which uses fluorescence. Players won't really notice anything other than that your pieces are actually painted. Contest judges will probably be looking for well painted miniatures, and will not check for absolute coloration against any type of standard. Only photographs will pick up the color changes caused by the light you painted under, and photos/digitized images can always be color manipulated by use of tungsten lighting or color correcting film/papers of by absolute change on a photo editing program. At worst, your work will take on a uniform hue which your lighting bias causes. This is not bad, especially for fantasy miniatures.
The best advice is to use what's available to you to produce good work, and let the purity of your color take care of itself.
REGARDS, Phil
Neuscheler Washington DC

From: kenredm@concentric.net
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2001 17:08:26 -0000
Subject: [mini-painter] Re: Proper lighting

--- In mini-painter@y..., heath_hatheway@d... wrote:
What is the best lighting to paint by. what type of bulbs do I need and what do I need to ask for when I go to look for them.

thanks for the help
Heath

I have done some testing with the different lights sources that are suitable (IMO) for mini painting. If you want a good clean light with a color balance close to natural daylight you need to look for one with a high CRI (Color rendering index). This is the established standard by which man made lights are compared to sunlght. 100 is perfect sunlight so the higher the number the better. Neodymium bulbs like the GE Enrich are an improvement over standard incandecent bulbs but they are not really that close to daylight. Look at a piece of white paper under them and it will show the brownish tinge of these lights. I use the Neodymium bulbs to suppliment my main light for painting which is a Solux Halogen clip light with a 4700K 50watt lamp that has a CRI of 98.I've measured the output of this lamp as exceeding a standard 150 watt bulb in reflector.These are the lights that are used in museums to illuminate artwork.In photo tests this has been the closest lamp to natural sunlight that I have found so far. Other manufacturers are putting out similar lights, just look for a high CRI rating. If you have a halogen lamp already these bulbs are around $12 US and have a long life.

Ken Redmond

----- Original Message -----
From: heath_hatheway@dot.ca.gov
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2001 3:48 PM
Subject: [mini-painter] Proper lighting

What is the best lighting to paint by. what type of bulbs do I need and what do I need to ask for when I go to look for them.

thanks for the help

Heath

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dallas Wortham" <worthdall@datawest.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2001 6:15 PM
Subject: Re: [mini-painter] Proper lighting


Wow, a question I actually know something about and can contribute to.  This goes back to my photographer days, and I do still shoot but only for my pleasure. So without further ado here is a down and dirty guide on basic light theory :

The best lighting is Daylight. I love the fact that my house has 2 to 3 hours in the afternoon where the light is perfect in my study/workroom.  Unfortunately that's not always possible.

When you can't use that, think of lighting as a pallet called a light field that you use to draw focus to your subject in this case your work area. I've got four light sources contributing to my light field.

Step 1. I've got a floor lamp in the corner behind my right shoulder with a three-way bulb. The bulb is a 50, 100, 150 watt bulb. It's a torchiere lamp that reflects the light off the ceiling and fills the room with "ambient" light a base coat if you will.

Step 2. Next I apply a wash using a pair of track lighting spotters (40 watt bulb in each) from the ceiling and focused on my desk. The idea is to get directed light source from a direction other than where you'll be looking from while you focus on the subject and not pointed directly at you.   It should be a little distance away so it can "wash out" and a ceiling light is good, my spotters perfect. If you were going to do without a portion of the light field this would be it.

Step 3.Finally I apply my highlights useing a standard swing arm desk  lamp with a 40 watt bulb (if your not useing the second layer you'''ll want a stronger bulb say 60 watts) that sits more or less on my left slightly above me. and focused directly on my work area. With a camera this would be the flash.

That's it. I don't imagine this is very "kosher" for the energy concious, but it is very effective and I only have it all on while I'm painting when I can't use the daylight. Otherwise I just have a simple desk lamp on.

Just add one thing that the wattages I listed are what I use in my study.  The individual should adjust to his her own levels as influenced by the reflective surfaces in their room. (white walls reflect, Dark brown Funiture doesn't)

From: L_Jakusovszky@ecam.com
Date: Sat, 03 Mar 2001 06:59:36 -0000
Subject: [mini-painter] Re: Proper lighting

Whatever lighting you like is best for you. Small changes in shading caused by differing lighting will not hurt your work.  After all, it is highly likely that your finished work will be observed under artificial light - and often in a convention locale which uses fluorescence.

Not entirely true, IMHO - flourescent lights can hurt your painting results. Flourescents are inherently bluer, causing colors viewed under them to appear darker than they actually are. The few times I've painted under flourescents I regretted it: blending which I thought had a good sense of contrast just disappeared when viewed in any other lighting conditions. After spending 3+ hours blending the flesh on a demon, only to realize I'd blended it *too* subtly - due to the lighting - I never used flourescents again.

Players won't really notice anything other than that your pieces are actually painted. Contest judges will probably be looking for well painted miniatures, and will not check for absolute coloration against any type of standard.

True - most viewers will judge the mini (whether in play or contest) by it's appearance under the current lighting conditions. However, I'd argue that painting under full-spectrum or even incandescent bulbs is still better: since flourescent bulbs will naturally darken the colors, they'll add even more contrast to your minis, which in turn makes them look better.

Take care,
Laszlo