In the good old days, artists coveted studios with big windows, north facing to provide consistent north light thru most of the day. Work was from dawn to dusk as candlelight provided most inferior light to paint by.

Of course my desk is lit by a $20 halogen task light. Light so white it's stupid. And a lot of contemporary designers prefer to work in subdued light, laboring in dark art caves, their callow faces lit by the flickering blue light of their monitors