Of Camera Lucida and engraving

santos

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Hi everybody:tiphat:

A few years ago, my friend Salvi Carracuel , a Spanish engraver who lives in Malaga (Spain) made me a gift : a Neolucida, sort of camera lucida used by artists for drawing after a model.
It’s not easy to use it directly for engraving with a burin instead drawing with pencil . Transfering a printed image is much easier.

But this camera lucida principle give me an idea for displaying under the scope the image of the model I’m trying to engrave.
Until now I was printing my model at a large scale( A4) and put this image near my scope. I always remove my glasses while engraving , and when I need to look at my model, I have to put the glasses on , and to remove them when turning back to the scope.


Having the image on the field of the microscope may be more convenient. This is useful specially when you’re engraving with bulino techniques . I’m using a scope with a zoom, and a 0,63 Barlow lens. At the lower magnification the field has room enough to display the model and the engraving.
P1230106.JPG


Here is the set up : the image is first mirrored and reversed on my phone.
The phone is placed vertical, parallel to the scope, and the screen is reflected to the objective of the scope by means of a mirror leaned at 45°.
P1230132.JPG


The distance between the phone and the mirror+ distance between mirror and the objective, must be equal to the working distance of the scope. That allows to focus the scope both on the phone screen and the working piece.
P1230133.JPG


The small mirror is mounted on an axis.
P1230147.JPG


If I need to use the entire field I can turn the mirror down and the scope will recover a normal field.
P1230136.JPG


The mirror is a bit special : the reflective coating is over the glass , and not under the glass like usually. It's one of the mirrors I’ve used for building telescopes : Astronomy is another hobby. You can found this kind of mirrors on old scanners or photocopiers.

Voilà,Thank You for your interest on the Camera Lucida, I hope you'll enjoy it:graver:
 

monk

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interesting, to say the least. since i don't do bulino, this wouldn't do me much good. i used to use a "lucie" wen doing oil portraits of live models .for portriature i found them to be a waste of time. although for static subjects ( drawings/ fotos) they can prove useful. good ole fashioned drawing with a pencil still reigns superior. ymmv
 

mitch

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This reminds me of the film "Tim's Vermeer", in which a man, "Tim", recreates the mirror apparatus that Vermeer likely used to make his incredibly detailed paintings. I highly recommend it.
 

SamW

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I use a small photo or drawing I am working from and placed on top of the 'scope so that with optivisor on adjusted to look at the photo and set so I can look through the 'scope, only a flick of the eye from 'scope to photo (through the optivisor) and back helps the brain remember the detail I am working on. The best part is that it really helped train my brain to capture and remember that detail so I can work well without the 'scope.
 

John B.

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Hi to "the other" Sam.
You may remember that our dear departed friend Sid Bell, "The Alaska Silversmith" was a great proponent and user of the Camera Lucida for modeling and detailing his animal carvings.
Like you, Sid spent a lot of time on Kodiak Island, Alaska and became very resourceful because of the lack of readily available tools and supplies. Sid worked as a government topographer.

Great guy, a former Marine and wonderful storyteller. Sure miss that gentleman.
 
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papart1

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Santos I love the use of 12" 150# blind flange for your turntable/working surface
 

mdengraver

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In that movie he wasn't a trained artist and managed using a Camera Lucida to create a credible likeness to the Vermeer original.
 

santos

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You can go even further replacing your mirror with semi-transperent one. That way you can even overlap your images without blocking a part of the field of view.
Thank You Doctorslava:) I did a few tries with prisms and various semi-mirrors.
P1230276 (Large).JPG
The best result was with the small glass plates used by biologists for their microscopes. These plates have an high polished face that is reflective and a transparent glass.
P1230292 (Large).JPG
You can draw with a point or a pencil through it , but this is not as accurate as transfering a printed image. I only use the "camera lucida" for displaying the model while shading.
P1230286 (Large).JPG
 
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