Why Using the Best Brella Can Improve Your Painting
Your silver Best Brella will keep you over 10 degrees cooler and more comfortable while painting. It will also shield you from harmful UV light. But did you realize that using an umbrella can actually improve your paintings? Consider the following:
See More Color
When painting without an umbrella, your pupils close down in the bright outdoor light. This diminishes your ability to see color. In the shade of an umbrella, your pupils will dilate more and it will be easier to see subtle colors.
Paintings Look Good Indoors
Your painting may look just right under outdoor lighting, which can be ten times as bright as indoor light; but most of us don't hang our paintings outdoors. When displayed indoors, that same painting will seem much darker than you remembered. By choosing or mixing your colors in the shade of an umbrella, you greatly improve your chances of the the painting "reading right” when hung in indoor light.
Illuminance |
Conditions |
120,000 lux |
Brightest sunlight |
| 110,000 lux | Bright Sunlight |
| 20,000 lux | Shade illuminated by entire clear blue sky, midday |
| 10,000 - 25,000 lux | Typical overcast day, midday |
| 10,000 lux | Very bright florescent lighting |
| 400 lux | Sunrise or sunset on a clear day (ambient illumination) |
| 100-300 lux | Normal indoor lighting |
| 0.25 lux | Full Moon on a clear night |
Easier to Mix and Choose Colors
Umbrellas eliminate reflection and glare on your painting and palette and help you to see what your are painting. This is especially true for oil paints, which are highly reflective.
Celebrated Plein Air Painters Used Umbrellas
For more on this topic (with great photos), please read Eric Merrell’s essay The Artist’s Umbrella .
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