Reply To: Glasses and Magnifiers

[Universal Head]

I tried a desk mounted magnifier but I found it too difficult to use – keeping the mini in a certain spot and my head in a certain spot was annoying. I’ve been using the head loupe for ages now – it’s a pretty cheap Chinese-made one I got on Ebay with interchangeable lenses – and now I can’t paint without it. I’ve always used the x1.8 lens.

When I first used it, it was quite weird, and you had to hold the mini at just the right spot, and allow your eyes to adjust to the small focal length (or whatever it is they adjust to). Now, I’m completely used to using it. I was worried that it might be making my eyesight worse (I use reading glasses), but I’ve asked a couple of optometrists and they don’t think it causes any damage.

Hope they’re right!

I actually think the close magnification gives me better painting results – but I can also sometimes take the loupe off, put on my glasses, and not even see the detail I was working on. You can overdo it!