Question about North light.

[Anthony Emmolo]

Hello all,

I wonder if anyone has thoughts on this topic. Any help would be appreciated. I'm thinking about moving to a different apartment. I saw a beautiful place eighteen stories above street level without another tall building near it. Although I saw it at night, and will have to visit again if I am interested in the place, I wonder if any of you have thoughts about South East or West light at eighteen stories above ground. With so much light and no shadows at all up there, would North light still be the only light source that would work? It is a nice place in a convenient location for a reasonable rent, but with windows on the South, East and West sides. I could consider moving there if I couldn't paint there.

Thank you in advance for your replies.
Yours,
Anthony

[Allan Rahbek]

I woulds say that it depends on what time of the day you prefer to work.

If you don

[Michele Rushworth]

My studio windows face south and west, probably the worst direction possible. In the morning the light is fine and by mid day I just block the windows with black foam core. I turn on my color balanced artificial lights and all is well again.

[Anthony Emmolo]

I will consider your thoughts. However, for fear of regretting a decision that would be hard to change, I'll probably opt to go for a North lit studio. Your efforts are appreciated.

Anthony

[Thomas Nash]

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.

[Anthony Emmolo]

Thank you Thomas,

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Originally Posted by Anthony Emmolo

Hello all,

I wonder if anyone has thoughts on this topic. Any help would be appreciated. I'm thinking about moving to a different apartment. I saw a beautiful place eighteen stories above street level without another tall building near it. Although I saw it at night, and will have to visit again if I am interested in the place, I wonder if any of you have thoughts about South East or West light at eighteen stories above ground. With so much light and no shadows at all up there, would North light still be the only light source that would work? It is a nice place in a convenient location for a reasonable rent, but with windows on the South, East and West sides. I could consider moving there if I couldn't paint there.

Thank you in advance for your replies.
Yours,
Anthony

Dear Anthony,
As one whose had windows facing in most directions, if you prefer natural light, I can strongly recomend sticking with northern light. The important thing, the sun is NEVER in the northern sky, so it never moves. You can work with it all day, if you're so inclined. Windows facing other directions, the sun is always moving across the sky, so you generally cannot work for longer than three hours at a time.
If you do stilllife work, the N. light enables one to work all day long.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Personally, I think a well-lit apartment is a real plus. South, east and west exposures are lovely to live in if you value sunlight (and you have adequate air-conditioning in summer). Right now I have a north-facing studio and I can work practically all day in it. But east exposure might be fine if you work from late morning to late afternoon. West exposure would work if you like to paint early in the day. As long as the sun is not shining directly in you will be okay. If this will be a living space as well as a studio, I think you have to weigh all the factors.