CAMERA LUCIDA : How to Draw & Trace with a Camera Lucida

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Camera Lucida - What it is, How it Works

What exactly is a camera lucida? How do I use one? Where can I buy one? And what about that Hockney book... Find out the answers to all these questions and more in this article by About.com Painting Guide Marion Boddy-Evans.

Camera Lucida

In the years before the announcement of the first photographic processes in 1839, artists who wished to make a quick record of a scene with the correct prospective used either a Camera Obscura or a Camera Lucida.The original design of the camera lucida was published by William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828) in 1807.

Camera Lucida : Wikipedia.com

A camera lucida is an optical device used as a drawing aid by artists.

Camera Lucida: An Optical Illusion for Artists : How to Use a Camera Lucida

A camera lucida reflects a subject so that it appears to be on your piece of paper, enabling you to simply trace it. The following is based on using a camera lucida made by The Camera Lucida Company, but they all work similarly.

No, it's not a Camera Obscura, it's a Camera Lucida.

It is not uncommon to find the device on the left, a camera lucida, misnamed as a camera obscura. We have also seen images of a camera obscura called a camera lucida. This is ironic because the name is Latin for "light room" which would suggest that it is the opposite of a "dark room" or camera obscura. The confusion appears to arise from the name and the fact that it is also a drawing aid.

What is Camera Lucida

You might know the camera obscura, which works only for very luminous situations. Camera lucida (light chamber) was developed by W. H. Wollaston in 1807 to draw landscapes etc. with ease.

The Camera Lucida

The Camera Lucida is a very elegant device, it works to the effect as if the the object we have to draw is reflected on the paper or the canvas we are drawing on. So one would only have to trace the object without having to worry about the perspective.

Drawing Microscopic Objects with Camera Lucida - For portraying sections and microscopic objects up to about x600, a favourite tool of mine is the camera lucida. These are apparently like gold dust, although Brunel Microscopes do stock them from time to time. My camera lucida is of the prismatic type with a mirror at the end of a long arm, that fixes onto the eyepiece. Instructions therefore apply to this type of camera lucida.

You Might Also Be Interested in Our Camera Obscura Resource Page