The idea below came to me after days of tedious fussing.
 
A big problem with drawing bumblebees using a drawing tube or
camera lucida is that it's hard to adjust the two light levels
so that you can see both the specimen and the drawing well.
The trouble is that bumblebees are both 3-D and BLACK.
Looking at one through a scope without enough light is like
looking into a black handbag - you can't see a thing.
But then all that light on the specimen makes
your drawing invisible.  And the white paper for the drawing reflects
too much light back into your eyes, making the specimen hard to see.
 
So I tried using <white> pencil on <black> paper.
 
It works!  You can still see the bee very clearly while you draw,
and the lines of the drawing almost glow.
There is a pencil called COL-ERASE which can be erased.  Berol
VERYTHIN pastel pencil also will work.  I used both
black illustration board and black cover stock.
 
Obviously, white-on-black art isn't good for publication, but
I then retraced it onto Mylar and it looks great.  For all the
hassle I saved on the first sketch, it was worth it even with
having to retrace.
 
 
Has anyone else ever tried this, or think it's a good idea, or have
a better idea?
 
Liz Day
presently in New York City, USA
receiving mail at [log in to unmask]
(that's Lday, not ONEday)