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Hey all,

I've been trying to get a good painting light for ages now. I've tried all sorts (floor lamps with daylight bulbs, head mounted, desk mounted) but none have really cut the mustard. So who has a lighting solution they are happy with?

Personally I've found lamps cast too many shadows and head mounts are uncomfortable to wear.

Any help appreciated....

I'm nowhere near great, but I'm fond of two 100w daylight a13 leds (aka standard house bulbs) one one each side of me and slightly above in a worklamp or clip on lamp, possibly helped by room lighting. I'll take a picture of my workstation and post it in a bit if you want.

A picture would be great, thanks.

Generally only have the black one and the clippy on, other just adds too much glare to the monitor. Hope it helps.

Google for Daylight Magnifying Lamp.

 p5freak wrote:
Google for Daylight Magnifying Lamp.

Yeah, this was my next thought, but there is a massive range from cheapo £20 ones to £150 monsters, so I don't want to splash the cash on another solution that isn't quite right.

Do you use on of these? What make/type? Also how good are they when you don't want need the magnifier (by eyesight is good enough for any but the finest detail)?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Vejut wrote:

Generally only have the black one and the clippy on, other just adds too much glare to the monitor. Hope it helps.

Thanks, I might have to be a bit inventive about how to set this up in my preferred painting spot (couch and painting bits need to be movable- small kids), but it's given me some ideas.

I'd honestly mostly just focus on having fairly bright lights coming from opposite directions so they illuminate each others shadows where the model is, though spot lighting like magnifying lamps or the like might also be helpful. Glad I could at least give a start.

I bought one from a german company.

https://www.cross-stitch-corner.de/Lampen-Lupen/Lupenlampen/3-in-1-LED-Lupenlampe-Stand-Tisch-Klemmleuchte.html

My wife bought one. And because i constantly borrowed it for painting, which annoyed her, i had to buy one for myself. I love it, i am over 40 so my eyes cant focus really close anymore. The magnification plus light makes painting tiny details so much easier.

Have a look on Ebay for 'Mini Sun' Daylight bulbs. I have a 30 watt one and I believe it can take down aircraft,it is that bright. Go have a look at Machine Mart's catalogue for lamps.

I use one of those magnifying glasses with a light on one side. Either as a regular lamp or with the lens itself cuz things like painting the eyes of an ork wearing a helmet is insanely small.

 p5freak wrote:
I bought one from a german company.

https://www.cross-stitch-corner.de/Lampen-Lupen/Lupenlampen/3-in-1-LED-Lupenlampe-Stand-Tisch-Klemmleuchte.html

My wife bought one. And because i constantly borrowed it for painting, which annoyed her, i had to buy one for myself. I love it, i am over 40 so my eyes cant focus really close anymore. The magnification plus light makes painting tiny details so much easier.

Just to report back, I bought one of these and it's worth every penny. Loads of daylight white light, minimal shadow (I use a secondary light to further reduce and the magnifier is great for fine details (eye balls).

Thanks for all the advice all!

Nice to hear