Do You Need Better Lighting for Your Hobbying?

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Chat, ask questions, and communicate with Atom

[@paulvandekamp6774]

i only paint in the Grim dark

[@TheCimbrianBull]

Clever pun.

[@jeffcaird6801]

You can’t paint in the grim dark. In the grim dark there is only war.

[@marcelosilveira2276]

Jeff Caird war paints!

[@p_serdiuk]

@@jeffcaird6801 Warcolours

[@rogermasson3315]

As we all should

[@4hedgesfamily]

I did a commission for a client once, an inn, with a slate roof. I painted a beautiful red-tiled roof, under the flourescent lights in our living room. To photograph it, I took it outside on a nice sunny day, and discovered my red-tiled roof was...pink. After a minor heart attack, screaming and peeing a little, I repainted it, OUTSIDE, and now I have nice daylight bulbs over my desk.

[@elijahmustafa5589]

I dont mean to be offtopic but does any of you know of a way to log back into an Instagram account..? I was dumb forgot the account password. I would appreciate any assistance you can give me.

[@elijahmustafa5589]

@Stefan Cade i really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and I'm in the hacking process atm. I see it takes quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.

[@elijahmustafa5589]

@Stefan Cade It did the trick and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thanks so much, you saved my account !

[@stefancade8184]

@Elijah Mustafa You are welcome :)

[@Joze1090]

@@stefancade8184 this reads so much like a scam its disgusting lmao

[@MentoliptusBanko]

That is good advice. My painting improved tremendously by switching from incandescent to LED bulbs. The heat the old bulbs emitted dried the paint on my brush and sometimes burnt my forehead.

[@geoffreywightman3635]

I remember by dad used to come down to the basement when I was painting as a kid and be like "How can you see down here?" and I was like WHAT are you talking about? YEEAH. Now I am 37 and I am like GIVE ME THE BIGGEST SPOTLIGHT YOU HAVE PLS.

[@BB-pn2qv]

Noooo the Fez has fans now!

[@TheCimbrianBull]

I'm one of them! 🙋‍♂️

[@damonbrown5424]

Fezes are cool.

[@stefanoj143]

Yeah, we're Fenz! Keep it!

[@dipvqib]

FEZ! FEZ! FEZ! FEZ!

[@markhunt3792]

FEZ!

[@timsplinter1321]

The extra light helps because of the 'pin hole camera' effect. Less light - wide open iris- worse focus that your lens has to correct for. More Light - small iris - much better inherent focus over a wider range of depth. Older eyes can't focus as well, especially close, so the extra light closing down the iris helps A LOT to improve close focus that the lens can't get on it's own anymore.

[@Zeanith_helfire]

I use the exact same folding light as uncle atom because it fits into my travel hobby kit and it works fantastically and I would highly recommend it.

[@harald2101]

which one the ottlite or the bostitch? I am thinking about buying one of them and wonder if the bostitch is bright enough for painting. i don't need it to be portable

[@brianfahrner4603]

I don't paint in the dark, but some of my models just end up looking that way.

[@looselycollected7505]

This is something I have been considering lately. We bought a house back in November. Since then I have been trying to set up stuff from our old place. And having more room means more places to have a permanent set up for certain things. One of which is a small room that I'm setting up as a permanent painting, hobby crafting, terrain building, and model building space. I bought a table in a yard sale at our neighbor's recently. The room badly needs light and there are no outlets in the room. So for now I'll be running an extension with built in surge protector. Hooked up a swing arm lamp today. Looking to get a big LED shop lamp, the style that are like the old florescent tube shop lamps. I've also been replacing the bulbs in my swing arm lamps with LED bulbs. I find you can get a bulb that has 60-100 watts output, for say 12-15 watts input, and they put out very little heat. So you can get way more light out of a swing arm. Most of which seem to have a max of a 40 watt bulb because of the heat output on traditional bulbs. Anyway today is my birthday. I'm now 45. And when I get off work at 7 AM, I'll likely spend some of my day working on that room and maybe even get some painting done. Thanks for the informative video.

[@solomonhicks6244]

Can we please see the hair before you de fez?

[@Autechltd]

My workplace has great lighting and the boss let's me paint my models there during breaks and after work. We also have gold plating equipment too and now I'm thinking of a Custodes army.

[@kaufman2113]

Gold plated custodes would be such a flex! I'd love to see the result

[@clipperrn]

Several years ago I started to have problems seeing things like small print and fine details on the items I liked to paint. I saw my eye doc and his advice was to use the best "daylight" bulbs that I could afford. I thought he was crazy, but it has made a big difference. Joanns a craft store often has half off their good led lights every few months.

[@nickjones2470]

Where I live the sun hits my painting area/corner in the morning.Its when I paint mostly.Its next to a large window and for me its the best light you can get.

[@NMahon]

Absolutely, nothing better than natural light

[@drunkensailor5771]

@@NMahon crys in cloud

[@Moodyhammer]

Perfect timing was literally thinking I need to start sourcing a light as my older eyes cant handle working with warm down lights. Thanks for the vid!

[@feloniousmonk5261]

So true. I didn't need glasses until I was in my 40's. I'm now 48 and my eyes suck lol. The best upgrade I've made to my setup is a really nice, diffuse, daylight led lamp. Can't recommend it highly enough.

[@Archimead]

This was illuminating.

[@johncurry7246]

Have your like because your comment brightened my day.

[@joshelguapo5563]

Having a light actually really helped so so so much when I got a better one recently I never noticed how much it helped

[@XniperW0lf]

Great tip with the paper on the light. Just improved my table.

[@ebena3207]

2. month ago I switched to an Magnifying Glass LED Desk Lamp . As my eyes can’t focus as they used to while I was a kid... getting old sucks

[@JohnJackVancouverIsland]

I use an OttLite desk lamp, it's been quite useful for improving my painting. Also, I use it as a diffused light source for videoconference calls at my desk.

[@HobbyHomiesPodcast]

Love your stuff Uncle Atom! Always super informative and well structured

[@droppod40]

That color shifting happened to me. I was painting a barbarian and when I looked at him at daylight he was red as a Brit in Marbella. I had to change lamps, of course.

[@samuelsanfratello4617]

Thanks for the video, Uncle Atom! I've really enjoyed using daylight balanced LED bulb on a gooseneck lamp while hobbying, which I started using after watching your previous video about "Hobbying as we Age" (because it DOES happen). Love the idea of a slim portable light to throw into my "Hobby Travel Kit"!

[@phil73805]

Yes! Thank you! I use magnifying glasses (different lenses offer different magnification) with a built in daylight colour LED. I also have a position adjustable overhead daylight lamp. Now I can, and do, paint for hours.

[@TheCimbrianBull]

Thanks for shedding some ahem... _light_ on this matter, Uncle Atom! 😀

[@jameshicks3046]

Great video, my biggest struggle painting miniatures, good lighting.

[@ulgulu7433]

Yes, at 53 lighting is necessary (and magnifier) , I did 2 of the Adam Savage 1 day build lights, they are awesome and very flexible. Has helped bring back my joy in painting.

[@52Miniatures]

Adam thanks. If you don’t mind - something else worth mentioning is that our eyes not only compensate for color but also contrast. Painting under a to harsh light can make you think that your mini is “popping” more than it actually is. I find that every now and again, getting up and looking at the mini in a different light than what it was painted under (let’s say stepping over to the window) sort of re-setts my eyes a bit. I can then see not only if something say needs more highlighting but it can also help with color perception. An added bonus is it also relaxes the strain on eyes a bit. Lovely video and import topic. Thank you.

[@theinfluencer2109]

Personally, I’ve never had or even known about eye strains and the fact that older people (I’m 14) suffer from it more frequently. This video was really educational so thank you. The only thing I suffer from when painting or building minis is posture, i find it difficult to keep a good posture while sitting in a chair for hours and so I suffer from that which I’m trying to fix.

[@basilblair]

Oh my god same man

[@joshua_lee732]

Get a higher table or lower your chair and rest your elbows on it.

[@Deathwig1]

For me I've found that lighting is a great help especially when painting areas such as faces where there is a large amount of detail in a small area.

[@cambrunsdon7622]

I have the Bostich light and it's wonderful! I can move it around for the right angle and don't have to worry about a cord running on my desk. I can use it all over the house. Absolutely perfect for what I wanted.

[@jaredquintana6328]

I made my own lights based on the shop lights Adam Savage made. He has his own youtube channel (he was half of mythbusters) The lights "neck" are made from locline with an aluminum rod in it which allows it to bend and stay in position. The light is an LED panel (17cm x 11 cm), has both power and battery (bought separately) and can be changed from 3300K to 5600K. I have three of them lighting my area and have a mix of temps on the three to give me a balanced environment. I love them.

[@BeTheGuitar]

I saw that video awhile back, and bought all the parts to make that light. Now it’s time to build it and maybe a second. Thanks for mentioning that his design works for your mini painting

[@nobodyimportant5417]

I use a non-battery toting ottlight lamp similar to the one that was shown that works great. I also have recently started using a headlamp for some angles and little details. The headlamp was less than 10 bucks, puts out true white light, and give me really good angles for nooks and crannies. It also gives my wife even more opportunities to mock me, so its a win all around.

[@RobertFox-chewbacca]

Excellent presentation. Thank you!

[@Aleglost]

I tried my luck at Golden Daemon at Sydney in 2012. Didn't finish my model in time so I figured I'd complete it in the hotel room. The hotel ended up having a huge bathroom almost the same size as the bedroom with white tiles and amazingly bright white light. Decided to paint in there and to this day I still reckon it was the best lighting I've ever painted in. Ended up winning Gold Youngbloods that year too.

[@davidcashin1894]

Thanks so much, particularly appreciate the demo of the more "portable" lights. I work both at my worktable and in my Family room chair. A more portable source would be helpful!!

[@Pringlesman]

I was watching one of Adam Savages tested videos and he said something to the effect of "The one thing that has helped me the most in my making career has been getting serious about my lighting". After that I started paying attention to my lighting when altering magic cards and it has been a huge help.

[@davidbreault3283]

I could watch Uncle Atom all day

[@AvgKsHunter]

For me the Neatfi XL made a huge difference in light quality for my hobby area. Not really a portable solution but had every feature I wanted in a light.

[@krisdog88]

The older I get, the more light I need. I've also started using a headband type thing with a magnifier in it. Yeah... It's fun... or something.

[@ElijahAtchley]

I have been using an LED headlamp, works great!

[@philippheiermann93]

A good recommendation would be also lights that include a magnifying glas, mostly used by nail studios and the like. Granted, they have not adjustable temperature but the magnifyer comes in handy sometimes.

[@Roll4Initiative]

I've recently been using a combination of a bendy light (often with parchment paper taped over it) and a ring light used for streaming for my mini light. Both set to the daylight so color payoff is as accurate as possible. I also have a magnifying lens that clips to the table and that has a little led light. I don't often pull it out but do find it's helpful for super details like eyes.

[@mossbergshobbygames8815]

Great video, I try to use daylight bulbs also

[@nidge4887]

I moved house last year and built my new paint table level with the windowsill in the sunniest room that wasnt being used. I paint during the day and just use reading glasses x2 magnification and the sunlight. When i was painting at night i had trouble seeing all the details with Opti visor x4 mag and a whole bunch of lights. I appreciate this topic is covering electric lighting but thought i would chip in as this has been a game changer for me personally.

[@lordmartarius1444]

Thanks Uncle Atom for the idea of the tissue paper. I also use "100 W" LED bulbs, and the tissue paper really give a nicer light source.

[@jcpouzols]

To expand to a little bit on the notion of "daylight balanced", a good indicator is the Color Rendering Index (CRI) of the light. The CRI is rated from 0 to 100, 100 being the most faithful color rendition, i.e. giving you the closest to the full spectrum of sunlight. Most white LEDs have a 80 CRI which is okay, but not great if you're really worried about color accuracy. The term "daylight balanced" is a little vague as average white LEDs with 80 CRIs are often advertised as "color balanced".

[@charlescarpenter9098]

Trivia for those who don't know: the Kelvin scale for lighting is based off of the color of metal when heated to that temperature (I believe iron specifically). So if you heat iron to 3000k it gives off the same yellow/orange color that the bulb gives off.

[@vonp588]

I use fluorescent lighting for painting as well as having a incandescent light nearby to “check” how the models look under normal lighting

[@torpote]

I wanted to be sure (I'm a neewbie and will start painting soon inspired by your videos), when I paint a miniature, the "classic" order is to : Prime -> Base coat -> QuickShade -> Highlight -> Varnish ?

[@turkeygerky2781]

Old video, but Ive had my NeatfiXL for about a year now and I love it. Great light but it is expensive. CRI is also a good thing to look at too :) the NeatfiXL has a CRI of 80 which is pretty good. That is if you have a dedicated hobby space. But this is a great video Adam. Thank you for sharing your lightning options with all of us!

[@EasilyDistractedPlanner]

I bought some bulbs from Ikea that you can set the brightness for and also the warmth (warm, medium and cool, just three settings), and put them into regular table lamps with long arms so I can angle them when needed. The brightness dimming is useful both during painting but also because these lamps are always at my desk, even when I'm not painting, and they don't need to be as bright then as when I need them when I do paint.

[@Upsideround]

Trying to paint necrons in warm light really illustrates the importance of white light. In warm light eventually the silvers, golds and bronze all look alike.

[@Funsickled]

Pretty sweet folding light recommendation from Sam the pro man, what with the nice variety of color temperature option in the lamp, but what's even better is a light emmitting panel with a more full color temperature spectrum selection knob, so one can set whatever temperature level one wants at whatever light brightness/intensity one chooses. It's also important to consider looking for newer LED light sources with a CRI (color rendering index) level greater than at the very least 90 so more of the full spectrum of color reflected is offered by the light source. The CRI from sun light and old incantescent bulbs is 100 (albeit incandescent bulbs tend to be more warm looking light), so in order to get more of the full gamut of color that's inside white sun light (the full rainbow of visible color that's shown when white sun light is refracted through a glass prism), it's better to shoot for higher CRI. The result being that any colors being painted don't come off looking too desaturated because parts of the color spectrum emitted by the light source aren't being left out. Pachinko!! ...lots of fun colors in those marvelous marbley machines 🤷‍♂️

[@calvanoni5443]

Thankyou, great information!

[@WarsmithThanatos]

I paint my Night Lords in the dark. Ave Dominus Nox!

[@RamathRS]

I'm getting older?! This is news to me!! Why did no one tell me about this?! Seriously, though, it's funny you mentioned this. Just yesterday, I realized that I am just barely starting to lose my focus on very close-up items. I invested in a large circular lamp/magnifier lense.

[@jeffwy5164]

RamathRS I did the same but then I visited an optometrist and found out I needed reading glasses. I don’t use the magnifier much anymore

[@johnashley-smith4987]

Great topic! It's not something a lot of people consider, lighting for their hobby area. It's usually a lamp Noone else wants or needs. I have a couple swing arm lamps with LED bulbs, and usually they are enough to see what I'm doing. As an aside, I recently finished a Lord of Khorne. I felt it looked okay but seemed dull. I got it out to show someone my work in natural daylight and didn't recognize my own model! Natural daylight revealed I'd actually done a great job shading and highlighting which wasn't apparent until I'd viewed it under natural light. A happy accident indeed! So ,perhaps I ought to get another light for my workbench! Thanks for the video!

[@L3GHO5T]

You can never ever ever have enough light, I use a white led light in the center , a bulb light that’s has a yellowish tinge to it on the left and then a normal lamp and bulb to the right and then the over head room light, when I’m done painting something I always move it around into the different lights and always find something !

[@markwilliams1892]

I use Daylight Company lights. Highly recommend.

[@DerBjjjg]

Yeah when I moved into this apartment I'm currently living in. And decided where to place my desk/working table,i found out when I place my desk next to the wall I sit in the light,so my shadow is always on documents and the stuff I paint. Really annoying for me I also don't want my desk to stand into the room because the wall is perfect to hang some shelves with stuff I need to paint and having in my range of grabbing. So one of the first things I did was to by a few desk lamps, mostly LEDs and to make the light more soft I superglued some cheap white acrylic in front of the light. Later I have gone so far, because the lamps filled up my sockets and costom wired them. Later I made an addition because I accidentally saw it super cheap and now have a light with a magnifying glass it's brilliant when painting really small details.

[@TheRealDarkSpoon]

I use Philips hue light bulbs. Some great settings for good lighting.

[@ryannowens]

I am very late to the party, but at least in the label printing industry calibrated color booths are still incredibly common. At the facility I worked at up until recently, each press had their own as did any department that spent much time dealing with color (ink, art, qc, etc.) Though some customers were transitioning to primarily focusing on photospectrometer measurements, the vast majority relied on a combination of the two.

[@lostnfound4125]

I have 2 desklamps, one with warm light and one with cool light so I can see my minis in different light temperatures.

[@andrewmarkowski308]

You're right about colors but actually old light bulb's light is closer to Sun light than LED light. Spectrum of LED light is nothing like the Sun's. But yes, older light bulps while generating warm light can mess with your perception of colors. I think there is separate value that describes how this source of light affects your color perception.

[@hobbybro3902]

I’m using two Ottlite desk lamps and another lamp with a magnifier in it. I also have a headlamp that has replaceable lens of different strengths. I gotta get all those details my OCD demands it.

[@ianmatthewkline8279]

Also, as you age the lens of your eye slowly hardens which has a major effect on focusing between up close and far away. I'm in my early 30s and I can remember back to even being like 20 and having this issue where I would paint for hours at a time. Now when I paint up close doing details and then look up.... EVERYTHING is out of focus and a real struggle to come back for a few seconds.

[@JPWestmas]

great subject

[@Yenbeats]

I love my rechargeable LED magnifying glass. It clips on to the edge of the desk or table. I take it with me to various locations to paint! The magnifying effect is irreplaceable for me.

[@JEGranberg]

My head magnifiers have a built in LED, which works well for me.

[@EryxUK]

These days I paint in natural light. I've noticed that if I paint under a typical light bulb I miss bits on the models that I don't notice at the time.

[@h1tchman]

Man your audio quality is nice. Soothing ...

[@Necronamis]

LED strip lights with additional connectors and 2 pieces of of aluminum flat bar (the 2" wide ones) to create a light halo over your hobby desk. Just bend the flat bars to make two arches crossing over each other and stick the LED strips to the aluminum. The material cost is cheap so anyone can upgrade their lighting game!

[@YaknSnak82]

I bought an IKEA desk lamp with one of their LED bulbs. I am thinking of getting another one to put on the other side of the table.

[@bernardmiller5347]

I use one of those that Uncle has works well for me. You can buy them at Wally World and michaels. They sell some at Hobby Lobby too!

[@TheCombatartist]

Unless you’re doing display/competition figure painting ala zienenthal (sic) lighting. Then one, overhead light source is more important.

[@averagecommanders5006]

The Fez is iconic.

[@brianbrinegar6086]

I use 3 Ott Lights, one on the left, right and front. Power cord management becomes an issue.

[@bm1747]

Its unlikely to matter in most cases... but the one advantage CFLs still have over LEDs is in color accuracy. LEDs still build an artificial white from color while CFLs are... something on fire. Long story short, an imperfect RGB mix on your LEDs could confuse your color perception. Technology Connections has a good video on it. So, the ideal would likely be "daylight," CFLs of a high lumen outout.

[@Zombane]

The audio quality of your voice is amazing! What do you use to record your audio? It also helps that you have a soothing voice too.

[@vladimirtepis]

Yes I need!

[@cordial001]

I swear by LED 'bulbs' nowadays. They last a long time as well so it's very economical.

[@richardklug822]

In the early 1960's everyone (parents, teachers, doctors) said I needed glasses. As a know-it-all 11 yr.old, I strongly disagreed and took off my "Buddy Holly's" whenever possible...until the day I walked into an unseen signal pole and knocked myself cold! Been wearing glasses ever since.

[@RamathRS]

Heh, I think we all have our own story like that. Nothing like the school of hard knocks.

[@sadville13]

Yes I do.

[@michaelsloup3200]

Upvote for the Fez

[@ExecratedPlaysGaming]

I use 4 Gavita 1700e lights.

[@Ironfrenzy217]

I'm watching this a year later for the first time. Kinda shocked at the date lol.

[@RavenMorpheus]

My lighting is terrible. It's either too harsh or not enough. Just can't get a butter zone. Also doesn't help that my workspace is the dining room table (thus not permanent) and I'm too lazy to setup multiple portable lights. I already have (supposedly) 3000 lumens of daylight LED bulbs in a ceiling mount, a garden floodlight (diffused with paper) hanging about 2ft above the table, and I supplement that at times with a cheap standard desk angle lamp with a daylight LED bulb in it situated behind-ish where I sit.

[@MorganScott82]

I have not noticed Atom's eyesight changing as I get older.

[@jipillow1]

7:24 Look at that photograph. Every time i do it makes me laugh

[@jmmartin7766]

Yeah, I love low-light in most situations... But, these days, bright light for hobby-painting is definitely called for... and sometimes, a magnifying glass... 🔍

[@kiesarisunny13]

I only use my Rooms ceiling fan light and using my artiest desk for my 40k stuff, i might try getting a lamp or something so my bro's cat can actually sleep

[@zacharyellis3336]

Yep

[@marcelosilveira2276]

I connect my laptop to my tv to use it the later for the screen. It is noticeable that some colors appear different in one screen than the other

[@barryslemmings31]

Your lamps are called 'angle poise' in the UK. B

[@tabletopminions]

That’s a neat name. Sounds fancy. Thanks for watching!

[@barryslemmings31]

@@tabletopminions I think it started as a trade name but the design has now been widely copied and the name may have become generic. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglepoise_lamp www.anglepoise.com

[@Corelich]

A very important thing you did not speak about is color quality. It tells you how saturated the wavelengths in its spectrum are and thus how good the colors you paint are visible to you when you use the light. It's usually represented by a number next to a 'CRI'. For painting I wouldn't go lower than 85 CRI and alot lights have about 70 which let's alot colors look darker or less 'brilliant' than they are. With led light sources which have a lor cri value, usually the red end of the Spektrum and around 470 nm ( cyan) are pretty bad saturated and thus will look very different under daylight or a good bulb.

[@Corelich]

Lor=low

[@TheZeglarz83]

fez is back :D

[@Nedkelly1974]

Love the fess. Keep it. Fesses are cool.

[@bradmoshenko7733]

I picked up head lamp. Found that I was having issues with lighting things in front of me.

[@bradmoshenko7733]

its not this but its like this www.ebay.com/i/124231561287?chn=ps

[@sirdrakey]

Blue & Gold Dress problems! sweet but now I have to get up early?! or maybe just not sleep it's 3:59 am