Does artificial light make much of a difference when painting as opposed to natural light?

Do people use special light bulbs in their lamps when painting?

Thanks in advance.

Normal lightbulbs will give more yellowish light, which will indeed affect the colours as you observe them.

Not having any fancy bulbs (or even a decent painting setup really), I rarely ever paint in artifical light. The only exceptions lately have been doing some basecolours, as those are straight from the bottle so I know what colour the end result will be. No mixing though, I'll reserve that for daytime.

I have just changed to an LED light bulb, the first i took back as it was to bright, went for a 4.5 watt. Its a very white light that is hard to put into words, it doesnt rebound off surfaces, only travels in one direction type light. I like it mind, it stays cool, i used to burn myself on the Halogen all the time and the energy use to next to nothing

_________________
Harfoots-The first of the Hobbit people to cross over the Misty Mountains and enter Eriador.

I use an Ott Lite 18 Watt floor lamp as direct over the workbench illumination, I then have another, smaller, ott light that I have pointed at the wall to give some indirect illumination, it basically reduces the harsh shadows from the overhead light. The floor lamp has 2 settings that allow me to keep a consistent level of light depending on what time of day it is. I often paint in the evening after the kids are asleep, but sometimes I get to paint during the day and my desk is next to a window. I have learned to really hate shadows, i stopped priming in black because it would obscure the surface of the mini so much that I was having problems seeing details.

_________________
richmondwarmancers we play Lord of The Rings, Battlefleet Gothic, Infinity, some board games, and really whatever tickles our fancy..

As I do paint usually in late evenings or nights I need good and strong source of artificial light.
So, I use fluorescent photo light bulb 36W (equivalent to old 210W) with temperature 5500K and intensity 2100 lm in my desk lamp.
Something similar to this one:

What is important , thanks to it's high Kelvin temperature and lumens , it really does not change paint colors.
Very often you may find them as part of "Photo Studio Lambency Box sets" available in shops with photo equipment.

However, I must say, that nothing can beat this one in terms of "best" artificial light for hobby:
https://eu.daylightcompany.com/bulbs-tu ... ulb-2.html

This is the bulb which my wife (also a hobbyist) has within her floorstanding lamp and must say it really makes a difference to all lamps/lights set up I have ever used and could compare.
Highly recommended.

_________________
Greetings from Dark Side of the Moon
Mars_2000
--------------------------------
My WIPs

Thanks for all the replies.

I'm only getting back into the hobby so this information is very helpful as I only have time to paint in the evenings when it's dark.

The lamp I have for painting has that yellowish light so I will definitely look into the alternatives you guys have suggested.

I'm old, and my eyes suck. I can't have enough light. If I could harness the sun over my table, I would.

I have 1 overhead, and 2 directional Ott like lamps on either side. It's a mix of florescent and incandescent lights. I use one of the Ott(really Ikea) about 6 inches above what I'm painting.

_________________
Xintao

I got a desk OTT light for Christmas and love it. I find my colours are brighter now. It isn't as hot and my ear doesn't get crispy, either. I used to use a 100 watt desk lamp, which was yellower. I tended towards darker finished minis, which I don't care for. I would take them to the window on sunny days and check them before I finished.

_________________
"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers