7 Tips For Lighting Your Art Collection

Few things bring life to your life, quite like beautiful artwork. With the proper lighting, distant bucolic meadows, outstanding abstracts, and intimate portraits create arresting focal points in a room and endless hours of conversation. Here’s what you need to know to brighten up your art so it brings the glow of beauty and hopes to your home.

1. Ensure Your Art’s Long Life With the Right Lighting

Indeed, your artwork looks more beautiful with the right kind of lighting. However, beauty plays a secondary role in preservation. That’s why it’s critical to understand what types of light to avoid when illuminating your artwork.

• Sunlight and direct light are no-nos. In the former case, you’ll get faded artwork. In the latter case, you’ll get heat damage.
• Avoid fluorescent bulbs for the same reason. They fade and distort the color of your artwork. 

2. Use Track Patterns if You Change Displays Often

If you’re the type who loves to change your art displays on a seasonal basis, then consider hanging track bulbs in your space. Unfortunately, replacing ceiling-mounted lights requires major surgery on your ceiling. Track lights offer a similar look but are better suited for areas where the artwork changes often.

3. Illuminate the Space Evenly

Your goal should be even coverage of your artwork. This is most easily accomplished by using a series of correctly-placed bulbs. This prevents shadows on the work.

4. Make it an Iterative Process

Here’s a common issue for most people when they’re hanging their artwork. The glow on their artwork may look great when they’re standing far away from it but not so much up close (or vice versa).

Be prepared to move back and forth in front of a piece while you check and adjust the angles until the illumination works at every angle.

If you want a more intimate glow on your artwork, consider hanging picture bulbs on the frame of your art. These offer a couple of advantages.

• They work well if you rent a place and can’t hang a track installation.
• They encourage close-up examination of the bulbs.
• You can choose bulbs that match the rest of your decor without spending a fortune.

6. The Composition Should Determine The Lighting

It probably goes without saying, but certain compositional elements, like the number of dark spaces in your image or the type of medium that you use, affect how much light your artwork soaks up. As a result, you may have to experiment with different kinds of bulbs and different light configurations to offset the effects of solid compositional elements.

7. Explore All Your Lighting Options

Myriad lighting options exist that solve different problems. What makes a painting look lovely in one instance will make another painting look washed out. Knowing your other lighting options and what each does is handy.

Reach Out To Thomas Kinkade Studios For Top Art Display Tips

Whether you’re looking for the perfect new piece to hang in your home or trying to showcase your existing artwork, Thomas Kinkade Studios can help. From our unique, licensed artwork designs to our sentimental favorites, we have something in store for everyone. So explore today and see what you can find.