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Thomas Nash · 06-06-2005, 09:22 PM

Allan is right. Your working habits (time of day) are a big factor. The whole idea is for the sun to not be shining directly through the window, for the light to be more ambient, from the sky. Once the sun has passed the point that it shines into the east facing window, that is very similar to a north facing window. The reverse is true about the west window. You can work with it until that time of day that the sun starts coming in from the west.

Many artists would schedule a sitter for no more than a few hours at a time anyway so you can have a "morning" sitter and an "afternoon" sitter with different set ups. I'm sure that Sargent just scheduled his sitters so that the light was consistent at the times they arrived.

I have a south window as well as a north one. The north is very cool, very very blue on some days. It's nice to open the south drapes and let some sunlight reflect around the studio, not for working on the painting, but to see how it will look in a more neutral light situation. So the south light that you would also have available in the place you describe could be a nice thing, once in a while for variety.

Depending on how you work I wouldn't be too quick to rule out the place you are looking at if it has other good qualities, like location and price. Having a lot of light to begin with, like this one seems to have (three sides) is a a good thing. You can always cover it up and shape it to suit your needs. Even if you find a north lit studio you will still have to work with it a bit to get the light effect you want for each project. Even facing due north, the light changes from morning to evening because the sky changes.

Good luck.

06-06-2005, 09:22 PM	#5
Thomas Nash SOG Member Joined: Apr 2004 Location: Roswell, GA Posts: 46	North Light etc. Allan is right. Your working habits (time of day) are a big factor. The whole idea is for the sun to not be shining directly through the window, for the light to be more ambient, from the sky. Once the sun has passed the point that it shines into the east facing window, that is very similar to a north facing window. The reverse is true about the west window. You can work with it until that time of day that the sun starts coming in from the west. Many artists would schedule a sitter for no more than a few hours at a time anyway so you can have a "morning" sitter and an "afternoon" sitter with different set ups. I'm sure that Sargent just scheduled his sitters so that the light was consistent at the times they arrived. I have a south window as well as a north one. The north is very cool, very very blue on some days. It's nice to open the south drapes and let some sunlight reflect around the studio, not for working on the painting, but to see how it will look in a more neutral light situation. So the south light that you would also have available in the place you describe could be a nice thing, once in a while for variety. Depending on how you work I wouldn't be too quick to rule out the place you are looking at if it has other good qualities, like location and price. Having a lot of light to begin with, like this one seems to have (three sides) is a a good thing. You can always cover it up and shape it to suit your needs. Even if you find a north lit studio you will still have to work with it a bit to get the light effect you want for each project. Even facing due north, the light changes from morning to evening because the sky changes. Good luck.