# Is North facing light really considered the best light for artists?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 2, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779 "2012-12-02T19:53:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/1 "2012-12-02T19:53:11Z")
Fascinating bit of history. 8 London houses built specifically for artists. Huge loft windows facing north for the perfect light. It must of been exquisite painting in there.
Is there any scientific basis for North light being the best? Light has been a passion of mine since my theater days in college. At one time I considered a career as a theatrical lighting designer. A lack of real talent made me reconsider. 😛
[Article.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2241527/A-1-3-million-time-warp-Artists-Row.html)
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> Amid the rows of conventional Victorian terraces that line this artery linking Central London, Heathrow Airport and the West, the eight houses stand out majestically with their soaring chimneys and red-brick and terracotta exteriors.
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> _But their most distinctive feature – north-facing double-storey windows – provides the biggest clue to the fact that they were designed for artists. The muted yet constant light that comes through the expansive panes would greatly enhance the conditions for any painter’s work._
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> In 1891, when the eight houses were built, the area was an altogether more peaceful setting than now, and a colony of artists, including Pre-Raphaelite painter Sir Edward Burne-Jones, were already living nearby.
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> Landscape painter William Logsdail and illustrator Charles Sims were among those who made their homes here a century or so ago.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/2 "2012-12-02T20:11:50Z")
I think the point is that, in the Northern Hemisphere, light from the northern sky is fairly diffuse and constant throughout most of the day. From east, south and west you get the sunlight, sometimes even bright shafts of sunlight, coming from different directions at different times of day, lighting your canvas and your model unevenly, and differently a different times.
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/3 "2012-12-02T20:37:10Z")
I was taught in mineralogy class that jewelers/gem dealers need to look at diamonds in north light, because by eliminating direct sunlight you have less variance in luminosity, allowing you to compare apples with apples, different gems can be compared with always the same base level light.
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/4 "2012-12-02T22:45:12Z")
Here’s a [page](http://www.finearttips.com/2010/01/why-how-to-turn-your-window-into-instant-north-light/) saying basically what they said. If you spend any time in differently-lit rooms of a house you can see the effect for yourself through the day.
The same phenomenon is used when you want to keep your house warm or cold with [passive solar design](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_solar_building_design#The_solar_path_in_passive_design) – in the Northern Hemisphere, south-facing windows let a lot of sunlight in and heat up the house, whereas north-facing windows let only diffuse, reflected light in.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/5 "2012-12-03T00:29:20Z")
Thanks Reply. That link confirms the answer. Oddly enough the back of my house nearly faces due North (its turned a bit towards NW) . I’ve never really noticed the light being different. But, I’m not a painter either.
I know my front door gets direct sun. Even the very best spar urethane fails after about 5 years and I have to recoat the door. Otherwise the stain would fail next. I’ve had to touch up a few bare wood spots because I waited too long. That door should be pointing SW since the back faces a little bit NW.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/6 "2012-12-03T03:52:33Z")
Moved to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/7 "2012-12-03T03:53:16Z")
In the Southern Hemisphere light from the south is going to better, for the same reasons.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/8 "2012-12-03T04:02:40Z")
As I already implied in my post.
And surely this _is_ properly a GQ thread (that just happens to refer to art), rather than a CS one. The advantage of a northern light for an artist is not a matter of aesthetic taste, it is an entirely objective matter of an artist’s need for even, consistent lighting in order to get consistent results, and of the astronomical facts that make that possible.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/9 "2012-12-03T04:13:41Z")
> [@njtt](#):
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> As I already implied in my post.
No harm in making the point explicit/
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> And surely this _is_ properly a GQ thread (that just happens to refer to art), rather than a CS one. The advantage of a northern light for an artist is not a matter of aesthetic taste, it is an entirely objective matter of an artist’s need for even, consistent lighting in order to get consistent results, and of the astronomical facts that make that possible.
Given that the question specifically refers to artists, it’s appropriate for CS. Feel free to provide all the scientific information you care to.
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/10 "2012-12-03T16:10:57Z")
> [@njtt](#):
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> The advantage of a northern light for an artist is not a matter of aesthetic taste, it is an entirely objective matter of an artist’s need for even, consistent lighting in order to get consistent results, and of the astronomical facts that make that possible.
Exactly. If you want consistant daylight but you never want direct sunlight thern north facing it is. No need for blinds, drapes, shades since the sun never has a chance to shine directly in. (however during a couple summer months you will get some direct sun at sunrise and sunset. More or less depending on your latitude.)
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-north-facing-light-really-considered-the-best-light-for-artists/642779/11 "2012-12-03T19:04:48Z")
The room I do my painting in has windows that face south and west. If I really have to check a color, I have to do that in my bedroom (facing north and east), aside from early morning. This is not as much a problem as transitioning from incandescent to fluorescent, or worse: planning something on the computer and expecting the colors to match.