"Magnifying glasses and Lighting" Topic

Im mainly doing 28mm in various periods and I really want to improve my painting.

Im after advice on paint bench set up. Is it common practice to use a magnifying glass? Is it a help, a hindrance or just not necessary. Can anyone recommend one (in the uk?), is the head set type the best option?

Same goes for lighting. Again from whats available in the UK what sort of lighting is best? What output, how many, what position?

I'd also be interested to hear of any other advice regarding 'studio' setup.

I recently took a macro pic of one of my fallschirmjagers and on the PC its blown up 5 times, and that does show up some (many) of the dificiencies. One thing i can struggle with is seeing the contour and where to highlight.

I use a magnifying lamp similar to the one shown here: link Beyond that, I like to paint using natural light, so my painting desk is installed near a window.

Cheers,
Scott

I use a lamp similar to ars belli as well, but must admit I personally find it a bit awkward to use. However, that may be more the design of the lamp than anything. Great for inspection and looking at the subtle details before you tackle the painting.

I have used reading glasses of the drugstore variety. You can get them in various strengths to suit and find them a easier to use in that manipulating the figure is somewhat less cumbersome. Also, depth perception seems more intact with the "binocular" magnifiers than a single lens. Word of caution. Don't move your head too quickly about and take them off before you start moving around! Esp. if one is prone to motion sickness! :)

Here in the US we have dollar stores (everything in the place is one dollar each). Sure you must have something similiar in UK. Pick up a pair of reading glasses. Comes in various strengths so try a few on. At most you would be out a pound and like many you might find it works just fine!

For lighting you should use two sources in addition to overhead lights to eliminate shadows. I use an ott-lite and a basic desk lamp with energy saving bulb. Not only do I get good light but more important, since the source is close to the painting, it tones down greatly the heat generated. I place the two sources opposite each other and dont have problems with shadows.

Hi

My personal recomendations (how I work best)

I use 2 lamps with Daylight bulbs one either side, this eliminates shadow and gives you a pure light, not the yellow tinged light from a normal bulb, so the colours look better, and more real, also easier to see detail. Sitting in front of a window is also good.

I have never got on with painting using magnifyers, but must work for some , but not my thing (though my eyes are starting to go!!!

You can get Daylight bulbs (blue bulbs) in places like homebase, B&Q etc, or if you want a lamp with daylight bulb and magnifyer, you can get these (UK) from Hobbycraft

On the photo side, you will notice a big difference with good lighting (I use my daylight bulb lamps), background (pale blue is good, white reflects the light) etc and a camera which you can set shutter speed on or at minimum has a macro setting, also use a software package such as photoshop, you will see a massive difference in the photos, and the models will look much better

Hope this helps

Al

Hi

I would agree with the daylight bulbs…they really make a difference.

I have been using a head mounted magnifier for the last couple of years (I have very poor sight!) and although cheap and cheerful, something like this does the job very well.

auction

Pete

I use two 'daylight bulb' anglepoise lamps, one either side of the work bench. One has a magnifyer fitted.

For more info check out;

link

For most work I only use one of the daylight bulbs rather than both, however for photography it is better to use two.

The blue 'daylight bulbs' are a must for figure painting and one of the best investments you can make – try one and see the difference – please note that IMO two 60watts are better than one 100watt bulbs.

If you have any difficulty buying these bulbs – go to art shops or needlecraft stores, where you will find them for sale.

I have used a magnifying lens, but find them a little awkward, so no longer use it on a regular basis, but it is always there should I need it.

I have read that others use x2 or x 2.5 reading glasses or even bi-focals for painting. I am lkucky in that I normally use glasses in my daily life, but have no problem painting figures without glasses.

I hope that this helps.

Tony

I use a 5x visor, and a lamp with a daylight bulb.

I found that priming black and drybrushing the figure white really helped improve my painting. The first time I did it, I looked at the figure and realized it had tiny details I had totally missed. Actually being able to see all that detail took my painting to a new level. I do occasionally use a magnifying glass, but only to check the effect after painting. I'll paint, check, touch up, repeat until happy with the results.

LCC aka Ron

I use the Optivisor line with the light attachment (scroll down for that part # 83518. I also used the highest level of mag. A great product.

link

I have a vintage magnifying glass lamp with a fluorescent bulb around it. It's produced by Dazor, which still makes them. I love it mostly for the round lamp. It reflects the light all around the workspace as opposed to just one angle. This avoids shadows. The magnifier I used for scrollwork and very small detail. I'm farsighted so I usually paint close up without glasses, unless it's very small details. I highly recommend it. BTW – I prefer a floor lamp to a desk lamp unless the desk lamps are weighted. They tend to flip over.

The whole trick with the magnifying lamps is to get one that is large enough that you retain your binocular vision. Mine is about 8" in diameter. I think its great.

That said, really good lighting is the single most important thing you can do IMO.

mjc

"The whole trick with the magnifying lamps is to get one that is large enough that you retain your binocular vision"

That's where I was going wrong! A tiny magnifier meant I lost the ability to work out how close the brush tip was to the figure – not good!

I had special glasses made that enabled me to focus at 6-12" range. What a difference. And an anglepoise over the shoulder.

For a cheap setup I recommend a couple of the cheap halogen lamps from Ikea (they cost about a fiver last time I looked) one either side of you and good bright general illumination in the room. If you can work on a white work surface and in a white room. Daylight is best but we all work when we can, so it's not always possible.

I accept that I cannot judge colour under artificial illumination and don't try, so I use a recipe book approach to painting (e.g. a base main highlight progression for any colour on a figure) with colours straight from the pot or requiring simply a dash of white to lighten.

My solution was:
1. Use a daylight bulb as suggested above.

2. Speak to your optician about special glasses. I explained what I wanted to do and the optician said that the prescription was just like an equation. Very basically, you take the prescription for each eye, say -3, you want a +4 magnification so the lens is ground to +1. In UK a chain like Specsavers have very cheap frames (about £30.00 GBP inc lens) and, after all, who sees you when you're painting? Important point, let the optician do the sums!

One more tip. Buy some black poster or construction paper, larger the better. Many DIY shops or Art stores carry the paper in packs. Place the black sheet where you normally paint. It will reduce glare and help the miniature "stand out" from the background. I also use the black paper as a blotter or to remove paint as I drybrush. The black allows me to see just how much is left to get the effect I want.

I can label and date the paper and put it aside so weeks, months later when I decide to add to the unit, I pull the sheet out and have all the colours right there from easy and accurate matching. Using the black paper will reduce eye strain, give you an archive of your work, and if you sign and date it, you can frame it as wall art.

I've got a cheap jobby from the local "Hobbycraft" shop. Big enough for binocular vision and has a daylight bulb surrounding the lens.

I never used to use a magnifying glass and always painted by a window…but advancing age meant that I needed specs so I bought the mag-lamp on a whim to see how I got on and now wonder how on earth I manged without it. Thinking of buying a bigger one now.

I like the black paper idea. I'll give that a go. Ta, Condotta.

cheap halogen lamps

Halogen lamps tend to generate a fair bit of heat, which can be a nuiscance, but can also be used to speed up drying times.

The cheap 'reading' glasses seem to work better for me than magnifiers – but try them on first as some frames are very narrow or have short arms. If you have any tendency to have hand shake, magnifiers of all sorts will make the problem worse.

My observations so far:

Ive tried reading glasses, 2 and 3X but they dont seem to make objects appear larger but you can get focus on objects at a much closer distance.

Ive picked up a daylight bulb that is supposed to be the equivalent of 60W but its illumination doesnt seem that great.

Remember that full spectrum bulbs might allow you to see color as you would in full daylight, but how often do you see your miniatures in full daylight? Many artists use halogens because they mimic the lighting conditions that the works will be seen (i.e. indoors). That's why I think use of full spectrum bulbs are not worth the expense.

Right- I've been painting under two lights-a very small halogen type angle poise with a reasonable 'white' light and a conventional desk (screw in bulb type) spotlight, which gives a poor yellow type light and does get too warm, drying paint (and me!) out.

I went to find a daylight bulb but hit a few problems- I could only find a bayonet type 45w daylight bulb or 75w screw in (ES) type spots offering 'full spectrum' lighting. The 75w option is too much for my 45w max rated light anyway, and I imagine would be a bit OTT as a desk light.

One solution would be to find a bayonet- type desk light (not as easy as it sounds)but what does anyone else use? Are Energy Efficent bulbs any better?

How many wargame painters does it take to change a light bulb anyway?!!

:O)