camera obscura
update
i have been in contact with nicholas evans-cato about how to construct the appropriate machine to use for the drawings that i want to do. he has recommended a few books to read about the specifics. it looks like the calculations for the aperture and focal length are not necessary for this drawing purpose and that i actually need a much larger aperture and a curved lens (i was trying to do this without one to keep it simple...)
so, new drawings and then construction.