Leonardo Da Vinci s Treatise on Painting

[Frank P]

the mirror....

https://archive.org/details/treatiseonpainti001974mbp/page/n5/mode/2up

have a look and learn from biggest all time master of the art universe

in these digital days the mirror function of a drawing program comes in very handy!!

have a nice day, stay safe and healthy

 

[mitch]

Just speaking for myself, I would disagree with the first sentence of the preceding paragraph. In most instances, I'm my own worst critic. Most of my career I've lived in fear of clients or fellow engravers seeing my mistakes...

 

[papart1]

Dang Mitch..........that's hard on a body man

 

[Frank P]

I have the book in french version, this one might be very interesting too.. but I am not really a translator as english nor french is my nativer language...
a little help would come in handy

 

[dcurrie911]

I read the first sentence in the preceding paragraph not as being one’s worse critic but instead of being able to see what others see. the mirror lesson is one I learned nearly 40 years ago. As a starving college student I decided to paint a portrait of my parents as a Christmas gift. Mind you I was an engineering student and not art student. I spent many hours and was quite pleased with the result. As any parent would be they were very appreciative but chose to hang the picture in their bedroom instead the living room (clue #1). maybe a year or two later I happened to pass their bedroom and saw a reflection of the portrait in their mirror. WOW, I instantly understood the love of a parent..... it was horrible..... but when I looked directly at the portrait it wasn’t too bad. What a difference the mirror made. Mind you, I bet if the portrait would have been good it would have looked fine in the mirror. So I am sure that Mitch and many others engraver’s work would easily pass the test. But I agree that it is a good test of ones work.

 

[mdengraver]

A reduction lens the opposite if a magnifying lens is very helpful for determining if one has a balanced composition!

 

[sam]

I have looked at my designs in a mirror to detect errors. If I'm designing on the iPad it's quite easy to flip the canvas and the errors can jump right out at you.

 

[Chujybear]

I read the first sentence in the preceding paragraph not as being one’s worse critic but instead of being able to see what others see. the mirror lesson is one I learned nearly 40 years ago. As a starving college student I decided to paint a portrait of my parents as a Christmas gift. Mind you I was an engineering student and not art student. I spent many hours and was quite pleased with the result. As any parent would be they were very appreciative but chose to hang the picture in their bedroom instead the living room (clue #1). maybe a year or two later I happened to pass their bedroom and saw a reflection of the portrait in their mirror. WOW, I instantly understood the love of a parent..... it was horrible..... but when I looked directly at the portrait it wasn’t too bad. What a difference the mirror made. Mind you, I bet if the portrait would have been good it would have looked fine in the mirror. So I am sure that Mitch and many others engraver’s work would easily pass the test. But I agree that it is a good test of ones work.

the mirror reflected version of themselves would be the version that your parents would be most familiar with.. its a funny thing that if we were to see ourselves as others do it would feel distinctly off to us.

when I work on large wood sculptures (totem poles) I find it particularly helpful when the studio has skylights because I can see the work reflected at night time. this may have more to do with being able to see more of the piece in one shot as would be naturally possible,... another trick is just snapping a quick pic.. especially on something that is dynamic in three dimensions, it is nice to freeze it to get a new perspective.

 

[Big-Un]

I was taught by a sign painter early in my formative years to always check my work either in a mirror or, in the case of lettering and color values, to check it through squinted eyes. That will always disclose poor work or tone values.