Art Projector Guide An art projector is a handy tool for artists of all skill levels. Photorealist painters traditionally used a projector to enlarge and transfer the image from their small photo onto a large canvas. In addition to projectors, there are also 2 other methods you can use: the and. How do you decide which of these 3 methods is easiest for you. Read through these pages to compare and contrast the different methods and processes, starting with the almighty projector. Buying a projector can be a costly experience depending on the type you want and whether you buy it new or usedso read through this page to help figure out which type of projector is best for your needs and your budget. Digital Art Projectors Digital art projectors are basically home theater projectors that have been designed with additonal features specifically for artists. They're pricey, but they're the gold standard for image transfer and enlargement because they're so versatile. They're generally brighter so you don't need to worry about ambient lightproduce a larger and sharper image, and offer image and color controls. If you create murals, all you need to do is hook up your laptop, camera or memory card to the projector and you can project an image. You can even play a digital movie file and pause it to trace a still. If you use the projector for 2 hours every single day, it will last over 41 years. This means that you don't need a dark room to see a clear projection. Increased brightness also allows for bigger projections, which is perfect for muralists. Even their most powerful model weighs only 3. They offer flip, skew, and rotation controls, color temperature and grayscale adjustments, and dozens of custom grid layouts such as rule of thirds. If that interests you, i'd recommend you buy a properwhich can also be used for tracing. When I was a struggling artist, that was definitely beyond my means. And when factoring in cost, don't forget that you might also need a tripod to mount the projector on. Those cheaper models might not be great for your home theater system, but they could be all you need for tracing. I've provided links below to the relevant products so that you can easily find them on Blick Art Materials, my favorite online art supplier. I'm a member of Blick's affiliate program, which means if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, I'll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your purchase helps support this site and keeps it free of ads. Photorealists after sharp detail might also benefit from the models below. For an extra few hundred bucks you get a huge brightness bump 1000 lumens and slightly higher resolution. Artograph recommends this model for just about any artwork up to mid-sized indoor murals. That extra brightness will also give much greater detail, which will please photorealists. If brightness is your main consideration, look into buying awhich can give you over 2,000 lumens. If you plan to do a large scale painting, you could also look into using an opaque projector, which will enlarge your image so that you can trace the outline. Opaque projectors work by shining a bright light onto an opaque object like a photo or a sketch and then using a combination of mirrors or prisms and a lens to focus an enlarged reflection onto a surface. They're not digital, so instead of using an image file, you need a sketch or a photo you've printed out. This is less convenient, but might be preferable if you're enlarging your own sketches, thereby saving you the step of having to scan them. Before we delve deeper, let's get an overview of how to use an opaque projector. Here's how to use an opaque projector: You will need a small paper copy of your photograph, between 5 sq inches and 7 sq inches, depending on the size of your art projector's opening. I want to be tracer the image in the opening, turn on the machine and turn off the lights in the room. Make sure you have enough space to be able to pull the machine far back if you need to make a really big version. The projected image will appear on the wall, so you'll need to position your canvas securely on the wall, and arrange the projector so that the enlarged image fits correctly within the size of the canvas. This might take some fiddling to get it just right. Double-check that the canvas is perfectly straight and flat against the wall, and that the projector rests perfectly flat upon its surface - otherwise the picture will turn out slightly distorted. You can see the illustration below for an idea of how it all works. You'll need to make sure that the art projector stays in place the entire time as you are drawing the image. Keep the dogs, cats and tiny children out of the room. The slightest nudge of the projector will knock the projection out of alignment, and it may or may not be easy to realign the projection with your previous tracings. You i want to be tracer want to take any chances. For the same reason, make sure you have enough time to trace the whole thing in one go. Opaque projectors also require a print out of a photo or a physical sketch to be projected. While this is much easier than other projectors that require slides or transparencies, it's not as convenient as digital projectors that can utilize digital image files and even video. The cons to using an opaque projector are 1 the expense and 2 the need for a dark room. While opaque projectors are generally much cheaper than digital projectors, you can still spend hundreds of dollars. In the past, I've struggled with cheaper models when it came to detailed artworks. Some areas were blurry and I couldn't see the details I needed which had to be penciled in later using good old-fashioned hand-eye coordination. So it depends partly on your style of artwork and how much enlargement you need. This can be annoying or downright difficult - although if you need to, you'll probably learn to adapt and make the best of it which is what I did. But they do make for a simpler device, so if something goes wrong with the bulb, you can usually change it out yourself. There are a range of opaque projectors available. I'm not going to recommend any professional level opaque projectors because I think that if you can afford one of those, you might as well buy a digital projector, which will give you much better performance. It's relatively portable, but can only enlarge photos to 2. But it might be perfect if your only goal is to enlarge simple sketches from your notebook so you can transfer them to a larger surface like canvas. It also has a built-in cooling system and can be used with an upgraded lens for better focus and accuracy. Check out this from Blick Art Materials that demonstrates how the Prism projector works. Slide Projectors The original Photorealists of the late 1960s and 70s commonly used slide projectors to enlarge their images. They would have slides made of their photographs, insert the slide into a slide projector and trace the enlarged image onto their canvas. The process is basically the same as using an opaque projector, only you will need to have a slide made of your photo. You will also need a slide projector. You can acquire either new or used slide projectors from Ebay or. The used ones often sell at a deep discount to the original price. Although I haven't used a slide projector myself for the purpose of tracing the enlarged image, I imagine that a crisp, clear slide inside a good slide projector should make a really accurate enlargement that would be easier to trace than the projection you would get from of a middle-range opaque projector. Overhead Projectors When I was a student in school, all the teachers used overhead projectors to project their lessons onto the wall, and the images were always quite crisp and clear. This makes them an excellent candidate for enlarging reference photos. To use an overhead projector, you will need a transparency of your reference photo. These days you can get that go through your inkjet printer, laser printer or copier, so you can quickly and easily print them off yourself make sure the transparency you buy is compatible with your printer. Check out sites like eBay where you can find great deals on i want to be tracer models, or check if your school i want to be tracer work has one that you can borrow.
