How to light your art

Here you will discover valuable tips for illuminating your artwork, including what to avoid and the different lighting techniques to consider, & potential risks to your artwork from certain types of lights. If you have any inquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Guide on How to NOT Light Your Artwork

Here’s a guide on the things to avoid when lighting your artwork

1. Keep Your Prints Away from Direct Sunlight

Direct sunlight isn’t art-friendly and should
be avoided at all costs. Although most paint works contain UV protection properties, this isn’t enough to stop the ultraviolet light and infrared radiation from damaging and fading your print work. What’s more, the heating and cooling cycles of direct sunlight might cause your print work material to expand and relax leading to the formation of cracks or
bubbles on your print

2. Avoid Heat Damage

Different types of light produce different amounts of heat that can damage your prints. So select a source of light with minimal heat. That’s because too much heat on canvas prints can cause the print edges to expand, and become loose from the frame, and tier while excess heat on metal prints may lead to the edges becoming yellow, thereby compromising the quality of your print.

A surefire way to avoid such scenarios is by
conducting a heat test. All you have to do is place your hand between your light source and artwork. If you feel any heat, then you must move your light source further from the artwork.

3. Forget Fluorescent Lighting

The biggest disadvantage of fluorescent
lighting is the production of lots of ultraviolet rays, which causes your metal and canvas prints to fade.

Even worse, fluorescent lighting skews the
natural color of your prints by making them seem unnatural- all the more reason you should forget about using it.

4. Halogen Lighting is a NO

As much as halogen lighting might make your artwork look great, the amount of heat it emits is too high and could damage your metal and canvas prints. For this reason, you should avoid halogen lighting. Besides, they aren’t energy efficient.

The Best and Safest Way to Add

Light to Your Canvas Artwork

The best and safest way to add light to your canvas artwork includes the following;

Use lighting solutions with the appropriate lumen rating and color temperature to bring your canvas prints to life, making them a focal point for guests. You can also adjust your ambient lighting to make your canvas prints pop.
Since canvas artworks have a matte finish, you can use individual light fixtures for each artwork including accent lighting fixtures.

How to Light Your Metal Art

Metal art can be visually appealing under the right type of lighting. But they could also be a pain to view when you mess up with your lighting leading to light reflections. You can mitigate this through the following steps;

Using a less steep lighting angle to ensure even distribution of your light across the art surface, reducing chances of glare.
Track lighting fixtures work best with metal art since they have a wide beam angle and low light intensity, eliminating cases of light reflection.
Since metal prints work well with low light intensity, consider adjusting your ambient lighting to avoid your guest’s reflection on your artwork.

Type of Light and Amount of Glow that is

Safe on the Art

Now that halogen and fluorescent lighting are out of the picture, it only leaves us with one type of lighting solution for your artwork- LED light bulbs. LED light bulbs are a safe lighting solution for your metal and canvas prints. They emit minimal heat and produce minimal to no UV rays. Concurrently, they’re energy and cost-efficient for either track lighting or accent lighting your metal and canvas prints. However, with so many options of LED lights to choose from, it can be daunting to get one with the safest amount of glow for your art. Here are factors you should consider to install LED lights that produce a sufficient glow for your artwork:

Type of LED Bulb

LED bulbs produce different light intensities. The right LED bulb for your art will depend on how you mount your LED lights.

For accent lighting, choose LED lights that are three times brighter than the ambient light. Go for LED bulbs with built-in reflectors, like Parabolic Aluminized Reflector bulbs. However, if you prefer a track-lighting LED fixture, choose bulbs with an adjustable base to enhance your lighting angle.

Additionally, you should consider the distance between your lighting source and the print when selecting the type of LED bulb to light your prints.

Color Temperatures

The color temperature of your bulb is measured in Degrees Kelvin and it ranges from 1000 to 10000. This is what gives your artwork a sense of coolness and warmness.

Bulbs with a color temperature of 1000K to 3000K give off warm light while the ones ranging from 3100K to 4500K offer a cool or neutral color. Those with a color temperature of 4600K and above give off white light with a tint of blue.

The ideal color temperature range for most metal and canvas prints is 3500K to 4500K. Anything above or below that may make your print seem unnatural.

CRI Rating

The Color Rendering Index is a measure of color accuracy under sunlight, which ranges from 0 to 100. The higher the CRI, the more natural your prints will appear. A good CRI rating is 85, while anything above 90 is considered a high-quality CRI.

Lumens

Gone are the days when light brightness was measured in Watts. Nowadays, Watts is a measure of energy consumption while Lumens is a measure of light brightness. You should, therefore, select your bulb based on its lumen specification as opposed to Watts.

Beam Angle

Your bulb’s beam angle determines the amount of glow a print can receive, highlighting it as a focal point for your audience. The beam angle is a measure of the degree to which light is coming from the bulb.

Generally, the wider the beam angle the wider the light beam, causing a flood-like light exposure which is good for multiple mounted prints. On the other hand, small beam angles cause spot-like light exposure, ideal for a single-mounted print.

Ceiling Light Placement and Angle

The angle at which you place your ceiling lights determines how well or badly your print will be viewed. Ceiling lights with an angle of 300 – 450 to the artwork provide the best view of your mounted print. Those that are exactly flat above the print may cast shadows on your canvas print or lead to unpleasant glare for your metal print.

If your ceiling is too high, use a bulb with a higher lumen and narrow beam angle to make for the extra distance.

L. D. WATSON

Fine Art and Portrait Photography

Dallas/Fort Worth Texas