Camera Lucida

Do you know what a camera lucida is?

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

The camera lucida performs an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed upon the surface upon which the artist is drawing. The artist sees both scene and drawing surface simultaneously, as in a photographic double exposure. This allows the artist to duplicate key points of the scene on the drawing surface, thus aiding in the accurate rendering of perspective.

-Wikipedia

The chief use of the camera lucida is to make drawings as accurate as possible especially in a time when there were no photographs yet. Needless to say, not only was the device used in architectural sketches or drawings in biology, artists also used it in making portraits. This resulted in drawings which conformed very closely to the subjects' faces.

Why am I interested? That's because it's a shortcut to an earlier frustration. 

When I was young, I was determined to be good in portrait drawings. In fact, I drew a sketch of my face but I never got to make a perfect semblance of it. Always, there were several points here and there which were a bit off. Owning such a device would tremendously help me with this goal. 

Now, all I have to figure out is how to get one. Fortunately, some guys are thinking of marketing this otherwise rare product to professionals and amateur artists alike.

Here's a link to their site.