What Is The Grid Method?
You might be wondering what the grid method is, what I am about to explain could either improve your artwork or save you a lot of time it takes to start a drawing or a painting.
The grid method is simply this, a grid is drawn in pencil over a photo the artist wants to draw from and then another grid is lightly sketched out onto their canvas or material they are working on. When you follow the photo grid you will get an accurate copy of the photo on your canvas.
Why should you follow the grid method? You might be thinking this is not art, it is cheating! I disagree with this opinion because I know I can draw the image accurately without a grid however it would take me hours to get it right because I am a perfectionist and will not move onto adding oil paints until I have a image that is in proportion. Also because I am using this for oil paints, getting it in proportion is just the beginning, the hard part is actually getting the painting right!
How do I use the grid method;
1. First I find a digital image that I want to paint.
2. I then get my canvas and measure the height and width, for instance my canvas is 40 x 20 cm.
3. I then get my digital image and scale it in proportion to the canvas, making sure it prints out a nice size on A4 to draw from. For this example my desired scale would be 20 x 10. Why? Because it will print out nice and big on A4 and 20 x 10 is half the size of 40 x 20.
4. The canvas is exactly double the size of my image. If I draw a 1 x 1 cm grid over my digital image, for my canvas I will draw a 2 x 2 grid. This means when I draw from the grid of the photo to the grid of the canvas it will be an exact copy but double the size.
The set up is easy, on the Y (vertical) axis of the grid I have numbers 1, 2, 3, 4..etc and on the X (horizontal) axis of the grid I have letters A,B,C,D..etc. If this is done correctly you can locate exactly what part you are drawing from.
How Will This Benefit My Art? I believe this is a great tool for an artist. I used to spend hours drawing out an image before I would start adding materials to it because I am a perfectionist. It has to look right or I do not like it. Using the grid method saves me so much time and I jump right into painting within an hour instead of spending time drawing the image correctly and then starting the next day with the painting.
I also find that when you are sketching onto a canvas and you make a mistake, using a rubber is a bad choice because it can smudge horribly and even ruin the canvas. Using the grid limits the possibility of ruining the canvas before you start painting on it because you should get it sketched correctly first time.
I hope you take advantage of this method, it really will save you a lot of time and most important, your work will be in proportion!