Step 2 - The most important thing to keep in mind when drawing your grids is they must be a 1-to-1 ratio.
#GRIDDED ART HOW TO#
Smart tip: For detailed information about what a viewfinder is and how to use one, see the article titled “ Making and Using a Viewfinder to Compose Better Paintings.”
If your canvas is 12″ x 16″ or 18″ x 24″, then you will need to crop your reference photo to a 3″ x 4″ or 6″ x 8″. It is important that the image and the canvas be in the same proportion. For example, a composition that measures 4″ x 5″ is the same proportion as a 16″ x 20″ or 24″ x 30″ canvas. Next, you will need to determine the proportions of your composition. Step 1 - Select your reference photograph and use a viewfinder to isolate the section you want to paint. Grid enlarging is a valuable exercise in helping to improve your drawing and observational skills. It serves to divide the original image into smaller blocks to see what goes where more easily.
#GRIDDED ART SERIES#
Just about everyone knows what a grid is however, if you don’t, a grid is a series of equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines that intersect to form a boxed pattern. Then, one square at a time, you draw the picture onto your canvas, concentrating on the contents of each square until the image is complete. This entails drawing a grid on your reference image and then drawing another grid on your canvas of equal or greater proportion. Artists use this technique regularly to enlarge and transfer compositions they desire to paint to a canvas as part of prepping it for painting. Grid enlarging is the process of using a grid to precisely copy and enlarge a smaller image and transfer it onto a larger canvas. Regardless of where you get your inspiration be it from a photograph, drawing, or some other representation of an image you want to paint, grid enlarging can help the artist transfer a smaller size image onto a larger canvas with exact detail or as much detail as the artist desires. Many of the world’s greatest oil painting artists don’t draw well at all, yet they use the grid enlarging technique to start their paintings, which become beautiful works of art. The best part is you don’t have to be skilled in drawing to achieve extraordinary results when using this method. There is a simple technique used by great artists every day to create sensational works of art.