CHAPTER IX: STUDIOS
A PAINTING-ROOM is always a matter of serious consideration, and
to the beginner one of difficulty. The arrangement of light is not easy,
and a special window is almost always out of the question; yet in some
way the light must be so managed that the canvas is not covered with
reflected lights which prevent one from seeing what the paint is really
like.
The North Light. - The first thing to be looked for is a steady light which will be
always about the same, and not be sunny part of the time and in the shade the rest. A
window looking to the north for this reason is generally selected. The sun does not come
into it, and the light is diffused and regular.
The effect of the light in the studio is cool, but colors are justly seen in it, and the light
that falls on any object or model in it would be always the same. If there is to be a
skylight, they should be arranged in the same way. The sash must not be flat, but must
be nearly enough to the vertical to prevent the sun’s direct rays from entering, and it
must for that purpose face to the north. This makes to skylight practically a high north
light in the roof or ceiling, and that is what it should be.
Whether this sash is above the ceiling or jut below it, in the roof or in the wall, is of no
particular importance. The thing to be seen to is that it is high enough for the light to
enter above the head of the painter, and that it be so directed that only north light can
come in.
The size of the one does also to be carefully considered. It should not be too large. Too
much light will be sure to interfere with the proper control light and shade on your
model, and too little will make your painting too dark. The position of the window with
reference to the shape of the room has to do with this. The most probable form of a room
is long and narrow. For painting it is better that the window be in the middle of the end
wall, high up, rather than in the middle of the side wall. You will find that you can more
easily get distance from your model, and at the same time get the light both on him and
on your canvas. But painting-room should not be too narrow. About one-third longer
than it is wide, with the window in one end, will give you a good light, and the further
end of the room will not be too dark, as it would be apt to be if the room were longer.
Preferably, too, the window should be to the left of the centre of the wall rather than to
the right, as you face it; so that whether you are as near the side wall you can get, with
the light over your left shoulder (as it should be), the light will strike on the canvas well,
and not to directly on the front of the model. It will give you a better lateral position to
the window, in other words. If you have to accept a window in a side wall, this is even
more to be looked for. If the window is to the right of the centre, you will have to turn so
that the length falls on your canvas from the right, which is awkward, as the paint is in
the shadow of the hand and brush which puts it on.