Back in the day I had perfect painting eyesight. I was very short sighted. Very. It developed when I was young and only spotted (they had no regular eye tests for kids in those days) when my resuts in class started to fall. As is common nowadays, the unruly kids were consigned to the front row where the teacher could keep an eye on them and the trusty kids (like me) were sent to the back of the classroom.
I couldn't read what was on the board and the teachers got increasingly annoyed with me (missing homework or writing about the wrong thing) and my mum also noticed me creeping closer and closer to the TV to see what was happening.
Hence the eye test and - excruciating for an 11 year old - having to wear NHS glasses. The inevitable 'four eyes' jokes were followed by an acceptance that girls were going to be harder to chat up and sport was denied for many years (football is tough if you can't see the ball)
I've worn glasses ever since - except for the odd dalliance with contact lenses (which resulted in a serious eye infection which meant that they were sunsequently only used for sport). Then I decided to get laser treatment to correct it once and for all.
Which I did (for a literally eye-watering amount). One consequence of the treatment was that I now had excellent long-distance vision (the called me the Hound Dog in the golf club as I had an unerring eye in spotting and finding where my playing partners' ball had landed). However, my short range vision was gone. I had to hold the newspaper at arms length to read it. This wasn't much of a problem until I started wargaming again.
Then I had to do a lot of close up work (painting, making scenery etc.) and I realised that I actually hankered after my previously crappy eyesight as being short-sighted is great for wargaming.
So I decided to spring for an expensive magnifying glass / flourescent light combo - which I then found to be pretty useless for me. It was like trying to paint by remote control. My hand would continually knock the magnifier out of the way or I'd dab the wrong bit of model and give them a metal face and flesh-coloured chest.
So I then moved onto reading glasses of various magnitudes - much better from my point of view.
Then my long sightedness started to deteriorate (something they don't tell you before you have the laser treatment). Apparently after 40 your eyesight starts to go regardless and as a consequence I've had to get glasses again. I went for varifocals but got a special pair for close up work - which are excellent.
Now Mark is complaining that he finds it hard to paint (especially 6mm) but insists on using a magnifier rather than glasses. I'm definitely in the glasses camp.
I just wondered what the rest of you use (if anything) for your painting?
I couldn't read what was on the board and the teachers got increasingly annoyed with me (missing homework or writing about the wrong thing) and my mum also noticed me creeping closer and closer to the TV to see what was happening.
Hence the eye test and - excruciating for an 11 year old - having to wear NHS glasses. The inevitable 'four eyes' jokes were followed by an acceptance that girls were going to be harder to chat up and sport was denied for many years (football is tough if you can't see the ball)
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| Me aged 11 |
I've worn glasses ever since - except for the odd dalliance with contact lenses (which resulted in a serious eye infection which meant that they were sunsequently only used for sport). Then I decided to get laser treatment to correct it once and for all.
Which I did (for a literally eye-watering amount). One consequence of the treatment was that I now had excellent long-distance vision (the called me the Hound Dog in the golf club as I had an unerring eye in spotting and finding where my playing partners' ball had landed). However, my short range vision was gone. I had to hold the newspaper at arms length to read it. This wasn't much of a problem until I started wargaming again.
Then I had to do a lot of close up work (painting, making scenery etc.) and I realised that I actually hankered after my previously crappy eyesight as being short-sighted is great for wargaming.
So I decided to spring for an expensive magnifying glass / flourescent light combo - which I then found to be pretty useless for me. It was like trying to paint by remote control. My hand would continually knock the magnifier out of the way or I'd dab the wrong bit of model and give them a metal face and flesh-coloured chest.
So I then moved onto reading glasses of various magnitudes - much better from my point of view.
Then my long sightedness started to deteriorate (something they don't tell you before you have the laser treatment). Apparently after 40 your eyesight starts to go regardless and as a consequence I've had to get glasses again. I went for varifocals but got a special pair for close up work - which are excellent.
Now Mark is complaining that he finds it hard to paint (especially 6mm) but insists on using a magnifier rather than glasses. I'm definitely in the glasses camp.
I just wondered what the rest of you use (if anything) for your painting?
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