It's all too easy to collect fancy art tools that don't get much use. Here are a couple I got plenty of mileage out of working on the Horse Fever public art project this summer.
First the low tech. I'm fortunate to have space in my studio to spin Cuddly, my horse, so I built a low platform on casters to let me turn any side to the light at the north window. My wraparound design had Cuddly moving frequently. The fiberglass horse weighs only 135-150 lbs. but anything that helped it turn effortless, and turn, and turn, and turn at all hours, was a blessing.
Lighting the bulky horse required more ambient light than I normally prefer in the studio. I needed to bottle some sunlight. Cuddly would ultimately be on display outdoors so I wanted to paint in northern light as much as possible. Though I absolutely love the quality of light from the 4700K Solux lamp I've used for years, I didn't want to add a bank of hot halogens. I had recently read Aaron Westerberg's blog
(see links below) about a special Philips 5000K fluorescent bulb he uses in his studio. These bulbs turned out to be a great solution for lighting Cuddly after hours.
You might be wondering about this odd photo. It's no Photoshop trickery. When painting you often want to back off and view your progress from a distance. The horse is big. My studio's no warehouse so I found a great alternative to walking out the door for a more distant view of Cuddly. Alvin makes a 3" reducing glass that looks like a magnifying glass until you look through it. Everything looks further away. It's not a dramatic reduction at 2x but enough to be useful. Mine came from Daniel Smith art supplies. It should be really helpful when I'm up close stippling a pen and ink drawing and want to quickly see how the values look at a distance.
Where did I find the bulbs... The Philips F32T8/TL950 4' T8 bulbs can be bought online by the case. If you only want to pickup a few locally as I did call Besco Electric Supply in Leesburg, 800.541.6618. The T8 size is designed for a modern electronic ballast. Don't waste your $$ on the daylight bulbs at the hardware chains. They only sell 5000K with a lower color rendering index (CRI). It's not the same 900 series phosphors that make this particular Philips bulb so special.
Besides the normal art supplies here are a few things that helped me get the job
done; inspiration, a plan, occasional sleep, a supportive family, AC to beat the Florida
summer heat, plenty of water, lots of coffee, ice cold Yuengling Lager,
more water, more coffee, great tunes filling the studio (RIP Steve
Jobs), and a ball of string. -pw
