Camera Obscura : Cheating the iChalk Way
After spending some time on iChalk, it dawns on Jan and Jane that maybe their creative talent lies somewhere else. Their first trial, as we witnessed, left a lot to be desired. Jan can no longer claim direct genetic link to any of the Dutch Masters. Always being a supportive friend, Jane remembers reading about David Hockney and his claims on Old masters cheating with a device called Camera Obscura or Camera Lucida. Hearing this, Jan grins since he knows iChalk has something in store for them. Welcome to the world of "Trace drawing", the best friend of not only second-rate artists but also the Masters, according to Hockney and professor Steadman.
(Image courtesy of brightbytes.com)
Find a picture (in standard format such as TIFF, jpg, gif, etc.) which you always wished to be of your creation. Drag it into the iChalk board.
If Jan sneaks upon Jane's computer, he will see that the the Tintin picture is not on her display. The picture is loaded into only your screen as a "background". If you would like to change the picture, just drop a new one. If you want to remove the background altogether to make it black, choose the third hand tool and use it to grab the background and toss it out. But for now, we want to use the picture, as Jan knows that Jane has a devastating craving for Tintin. Here comes Jan's last chance to save the evening.
Switch background color to white.
Select an appropriate chalk, turn on the Real time mode. Choose black for chalk color. And trace the image slowly in a masterful manner.
In the living room, Jane will be in astonishment finding something truly charming about Jan for the first time! Here is what she will see:
With the addition of Snowy as if an afterthought, Jan has regained Jane's respect he lost earlier this afternoon.
Who did say that technology doesn't help and only complicate our lives?
