Comments on: Frederick Catherwood http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/12/27/frederick-catherwood/ Thu, 2 Sep 2010 17:41:06 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Lynn http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/12/27/frederick-catherwood/comment-page-1/#comment-200052 Lynn Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:32:48 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/12/27/frederick-catherwood/#comment-200052 Can you tell me about Uxmal, Archway London 1844? Can you tell me about Uxmal, Archway London 1844?

]]> By: Charley Parker http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/12/27/frederick-catherwood/comment-page-1/#comment-18561 Charley Parker Thu, 28 Dec 2006 04:12:51 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/12/27/frederick-catherwood/#comment-18561 Oops! You're right, of course. I'va added a correction to the main post. While researching the post, I was reading "camera lucida" and thinking "camera obscura" (which I find much more interesting), and just didn't catch it. Thanks, Daniel. Other readers may want to check out Daniel van Benthuysen's <a href="http://www.danvanb.com/home">portfolio</a> of figurative paintings and drawings. Oops! You’re right, of course. I’va added a correction to the main post. While researching the post, I was reading “camera lucida” and thinking “camera obscura” (which I find much more interesting), and just didn’t catch it. Thanks, Daniel.

Other readers may want to check out Daniel van Benthuysen’s portfolio of figurative paintings and drawings.

]]> By: Daniel van Benthuysen http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/12/27/frederick-catherwood/comment-page-1/#comment-18532 Daniel van Benthuysen Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:45:49 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/12/27/frederick-catherwood/#comment-18532 I think you might be confusing two optical aids in your description here. What Catherwood used was the camera lucida, essentially a prism mounted on an arm that attached to a lap-sized drawing board. By putting one eye up against the prism one can simultaneously look out at the subject matter and down at the drawing pad. The two percieved images merge and make it look like the scene to be drawn is being projected on the page and just needing to be traced. What Vermeer used was a camera obscura, a different device very like the camera we use today but lacking the film. The body of the camera obscura was usually a small darkened room like a closet. A tiny hole acts as a lens taking in the image and projecting it faintly on whatever wall or surface it hits. The artist sat in the dark and a reversed, upside down image of what existed outsdie the pinhole "lens" could be traced onto a canvas. What Vermeer used (and we are so certain he used this because the geometry of the floor tiles in his paintings is so consistent that scientists using triangulation have been able to determine within an inch or so how tall Vermeer was) involved a constructed room and was not practical for an explorer/artist. What Catherwood used was far more portable but if you've ever tried to use one you quickly find that one has to be extrememly disciplined to hold your head quite still while drawing. The slightest movement bobbles the positioning of the image on your paper. I think you might be confusing two optical aids in your description here. What Catherwood used was the camera lucida, essentially a prism mounted on an arm that attached to a lap-sized drawing board. By putting one eye up against the prism one can simultaneously look out at the subject matter and down at the drawing pad. The two percieved images merge and make it look like the scene to be drawn is being projected on the page and just needing to be traced. What Vermeer used was a camera obscura, a different device very like the camera we use today but lacking the film. The body of the camera obscura was usually a small darkened room like a closet. A tiny hole acts as a lens taking in the image and projecting it faintly on whatever wall or surface it hits. The artist sat in the dark and a reversed, upside down image of what existed outsdie the pinhole “lens” could be traced onto a canvas. What Vermeer used (and we are so certain he used this because the geometry of the floor tiles in his paintings is so consistent that scientists using triangulation have been able to determine within an inch or so how tall Vermeer was) involved a constructed room and was not practical for an explorer/artist. What Catherwood used was far more portable but if you’ve ever tried to use one you quickly find that one has to be extrememly disciplined to hold your head quite still while drawing. The slightest movement bobbles the positioning of the image on your paper.

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