I want to mention one more drawing method before going on to our new topic of techniques for this month, the Grid method of drawing. Drawing with a grid is a way to create proportionately accurate pictures from photos. This method will help to easily enlarge the standard 4×6 photograph into a larger image. It also helps improve observation skills which in turn improves drawing skills.
Simply, draw a grid over the photo and a larger grid on your drawing paper. Next draw the lines, shapes, and values you see in the photo square in each corresponding square on the drawing surface. This allows you to pay special attention to what’s seen only in that square, rather than think about the entire image at once.
One of the most renown artists who employed the grid method was Chuck Close. He took photos of his friends and enlarged them, square by square, into wall-sized portraits. Chuck Close has a fascinating background story and well worth a read. He went on to develop his style into painting tiny abstract images in each square that maintained the “values” necessary for the portrait.
And this is an unfinished grid drawing that I’ve been working on.
