<p>If you're able, a <a href="https://www.cassart.co.uk/craft/craft_accessories/lighting/artograph_tracer_projector.htm" rel="nofollow">Tracer projector</a> could suit your needs. You place it over a small sketch and it magnifies it. No digital images required. Any other kind of normal digital projector will work too - although the resolution might not be as good. Overhead Projectors (<a href="http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wc-prod-pim/JPEG_1000x1000/AC190059AU_nobo_quantum_2511_overhead_projector_grey.jpg" rel="nofollow">these</a>) are great too, either sketch onto a transparency, or you can buy special transparencies to print on. You can often pick these up very cheap, or even for free - many schools have piles of them in my experience.</p>

<p>Any of these methods will allow you to project your sketch over the top of your work, meaning your sketch will not be obscured.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-31T11:59:44.890Z
Thanks, but that is extremely expensive, for me.
Aquarius_Girl
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-31T12:56:11.510Z
You can always make a [shoe box projector](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx4vPeL9y2g). You need a shoebox, magnifying glass and a phone (couple of other things). The image quality will be poor but you can use it to map out branch locations easily I would image.
Matt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-31T16:28:39.583Z
This sounds like a good solution for some people. Answers should always be considered for everyone reading the question... even if the OP can't afford this, many other users may be able to. Could you flesh out your answer a bit by explaining what this projector does and how it works?
Catija
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-31T19:17:36.167Z
@Catija I must respectfully disagree that all answers should suit everybody, but I've fleshed out my answer with a few cheaper alternatives.
Tom Medley
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-31T19:19:22.240Z
If you actually disagreed with me, you'd delete this because the OP has said that it's not an option for her because it's too expensive. Regardless, the two parts of my comment were unrelated. I was asking you to flesh out the answer because I thought it would make it better... had nothing to do with the part about answers being useful to everyone. I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying, though.
Catija
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-31T19:21:12.563Z
Maybe rephrasing would help... I believe that answers do not **only** need to be useful to the person who asks. Once the question is asked, it's for everyone to use so a solution that does not work for the OP is still a good solution because it *may* work for someone else... Does that clarify things?
Catija
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-31T11:33:55.753Z
2016-05-31T19:16:55.117Z
2016-05-31T19:16:55.117Z
Tom Medley
<p>Well, for coloring narrow drawings like branches of a tree, I think we need to layer a dark color on a light color, and then scratch off the top layer from the branches area.</p>

<p>Problem is how would I see the underlying sketch to know where are the branches exactly!</p>

<p>What are my options?</p>

<oil-pastels>
Since oil pastels require layering of colors on the top of each other, how am I supposed to see the underlying sketch?
Aquarius_Girl
# Since oil pastels require layering of colors on the top of each other, how am I supposed to see the underlying sketch?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-05-29)

Well, for coloring narrow drawings like branches of a tree, I think we need to layer a dark color on a light color, and then scratch off the top layer from the branches area.

Problem is how would I see the underlying sketch to know where are the branches exactly!

What are my options?

**Tags:** oil-pastels


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-05-31. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

If you're able, a [Tracer projector](https://www.cassart.co.uk/craft/craft_accessories/lighting/artograph_tracer_projector.htm) could suit your needs. You place it over a small sketch and it magnifies it. No digital images required. Any other kind of normal digital projector will work too - although the resolution might not be as good. Overhead Projectors ([these](http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wc-prod-pim/JPEG_1000x1000/AC190059AU_nobo_quantum_2511_overhead_projector_grey.jpg)) are great too, either sketch onto a transparency, or you can buy special transparencies to print on. You can often pick these up very cheap, or even for free - many schools have piles of them in my experience.

Any of these methods will allow you to project your sketch over the top of your work, meaning your sketch will not be obscured.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks, but that is extremely expensive, for me.  
> **username_2**: You can always make a [shoe box projector](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx4vPeL9y2g). You need a shoebox, magnifying glass and a phone (couple of other things). The image quality will be poor but you can use it to map out branch locations easily I would image.  
> **username_3**: This sounds like a good solution for some people. Answers should always be considered for everyone reading the question... even if the OP can't afford this, many other users may be able to. Could you flesh out your answer a bit by explaining what this projector does and how it works?  
> **username_1**: @username_3 I must respectfully disagree that all answers should suit everybody, but I've fleshed out my answer with a few cheaper alternatives.  
> **username_3**: If you actually disagreed with me, you'd delete this because the OP has said that it's not an option for her because it's too expensive. Regardless, the two parts of my comment were unrelated. I was asking you to flesh out the answer because I thought it would make it better... had nothing to do with the part about answers being useful to everyone. I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying, though.  
> **username_3**: Maybe rephrasing would help... I believe that answers do not **only** need to be useful to the person who asks. Once the question is asked, it's for everyone to use so a solution that does not work for the OP is still a good solution because it *may* work for someone else... Does that clarify things?  

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