by Irena Gintilas

You know, when I first started thinking about this topic, I realized how lucky we are — and how spoiled, too. We have access to centuries of artistic wisdom and all the modern gadgets our predecessors could only dream of. So today, I thought we could take a little stroll — from the old ways of learning and seeing, to the curious new tools that might just change how we draw.

*Sigrid Frensen shows the process of making a botanical painting.*

Let’s start with how we used to learn — the traditional way.
(plays first video: “The way we learned”)

This feels so familiar, doesn’t it? Hours of drawing from life, measuring with a pencil, squinting, correcting… again and again. That slow discipline of really seeing what’s in front of you — not what you think is there. Many of us were taught that way, and it built a kind of visual patience that I think we still carry with us.

But then — along comes the modern world with its clever inventions.

Have any of you heard of the NeoLucida?
(plays one or two of the “New Lucida” clips)

It’s based on a 19th-century optical device — an artist’s aid for seeing both your subject and your paper at the same time.

It was used by naturalists, explorers, even a few of the early botanical illustrators. What’s wonderful about this new version is that it bridges the old and new beautifully. You still draw by hand — no tracing, no digital shortcuts — but the device helps your eye and hand coordinate almost magically.

And if you’re the tinkering type, there’s even a way to make your own lucida from simple materials.

-make your own?

Imagine that — a bit of science, a bit of art, and a lot of curiosity. I love that spirit.

Of course, the lucida wasn’t the only optical helper artists had.

Here’s another fascinating tool: the camera obscura. Artists like Vermeer used it to project real-life scenes onto their canvases, so they could capture perspective and light precisely. It’s humbling to realize that these “old masters” had a kind of analog version of what we now call augmented reality!

And speaking of augmented reality…

Well, now we’ve come full circle. We can step inside a painting. Or walk around a flower in 3D space. Or draw while looking through virtual glasses that layer the real and the imagined together.

It makes me wonder: what would Redouté or Maria Sibylla Merian do with a pair of those? Would they still reach for the brush — or the stylus?

I don’t think one replaces the other. Each of these tools — old or new — simply expands the way we see. Whether we’re hunched over a specimen under natural light or experimenting with a lucida or a VR headset, we’re still chasing the same thing: truth in observation, and that quiet joy of connecting with nature through our hand.

So maybe the best way forward is to stay curious. Keep one foot in tradition and one in innovation — and let both keep us growing as artists.

Old Tools, New Eyes

Carol Jean Rogalski’s Silverpoint Workshop