Art Lighting Basics - Home, Studio, Art Show or Gallery
Whether or not the art is being displayed in a home, studio, art show or gallery, the basic bottom line goal is the same - make the art look its best. But sometimes the bottom line goal of lighting art may be a little bit more involved. Lighting can not only make your art works look their best. It can also solve issues that the art piece may have. A dark corner can be brought up a level. A certain part of a painting can be highlighted, perhaps. Artists may often not aware to the extent this is possible (or used by galleries and museums).
Generally, though, the main purpose of lighting is simply to evenly light the paintings, 2D art, 3D art, etc. This in itself can be a challenge as anyone who has actually tried it can attest.
Bulbs
As the title of this webpage suggests, lighting art is both an art and a science. The science is not too difficult, as far as achieving good results is concerned. The art of lighting takes time, and like all the arts, practice and a desire to succeed.
A good beginning is with a little understanding of the most widely used types of bulbs.
Incandescent
These are the kind most people are familiar with, which are used in most household fixtures, lamps, etc. They screw into overhead fixtures, lamps, etc. Not highly recommended because they create light which is too yellow for lighting art.
Manufacturers are producing a more natural light incandescent bulb now, however.
Fluorescent
These suffer from some of the same problems as incandescent bulbs. The color spectrum is not accurate for art lighting. They are much cheaper to burn, if that is your main purpose, but that does not make up for the fact that many (or most) fluorescent bulbs suffer from an excess of UV light, which is harmful to art. I know this from having a bad experience with fluorescent light many years ago. I hung a watercolor in a friend's health food store for about 3 months, very near fluorescent lights. When I took the watercolor down, I was dismayed to find that the purples and violets were mostly faded away.
At the Landmark Gallery where I am the lighting tech, we have house lights which are fluorescent, and we do have to use them sometimes, but only for relatively short periods. Also, they are at the ceiling level, twelve feet high, so none of the art is close to them (unlike my watercolor experience). Again, just be prudent, and I think you will be fine, if you need to use some fluorescent bulbs.
UV filters for fluorescent lights are available.
Halogen
Halogen bulbs which are used in cheap lamps, such as torchiere floor lamps are not what I am going to discuss here. I am talking about Halogen Par (stands for parabola - the shape of the reflector back) lighting used in track lighting, recessed lighting, etc. which is very useful for art lighting. It has not been accepted by the museum world thus far, and this is understandable, since there can be issues with excessive UV and infrared light, etc. But I think that it is a very good choice for many art lighting applications. We use these bulbs in all our galleries where I work.
MR16 Bulbs
MR16 bulbs are part of the newer, low voltage style of bulbs. They are very versatile, and a good choice for art lighting. Before you spend your lighting budget, you need to investigate the MR16's. They are different from other halogen bulbs and require some special handling.
Lighting Systems
Track Lighting > General
Versatile and adaptable, track lighting allows me to design a lighting scheme that is custom made to meet your unique, individual needs. Track lighting is perfect for lighting art, photo collections or architectural details in the home, office or gallery and it can additionally provide general and task illumination for an entire room. Our focus is on ensuring that your art is not only lit properly but that other lighting does not detract from the beauty of your art. Thus, all the lighting is considered in the overall design.
Track Lighting > Track Types
There are several basic types of track in the traditional track lighting system - the particular type used will depend upon your particular needs for your home, studio or gallery.
And, there are choices to be made in the voltage systems. This will determine the style of bulbs used.
Individual Picture Lights - Monopoint Picture Lighting
Individual picture lights are a great alternative for lighting one or two paintings. They often mount above the painting, or sometimes below.
