Often times when I’m drawing from an image or reference I use the Grid Method. It’s a great way to enlarge and reproduce an image. It also helps improve your observation skills.
The grid method is simply drawing a grid over your reference image, then drawing an 1:1 ratio size grid on your drawing paper. You focus on one square at a time. Drawing what’s in the box only until all your boxes are done and your drawing is complete.
1st BIG KEY to a successful grid drawing is they must be a 1:1 ratio. Meaning you have the exact same number of lines on your drawing paper as there are on your reference image, and that in both cases, the lines must be equally spaced apart. Perfect squares.
2nd BIG KEY to a successful grid is to make the grid on your drawing paper very light! LIGHT! I can’t stress that enough. Because you will be erasing those lines as you go along so, if you’ve got dark pencil lines you’re not going to be able to get rid of them. You’ll be left with these lines all over your drawing.
See how light the grid is on the drawing paper compared to my reference image.
I love using this method for enlarging images and using for a more realistic style. Here’s my latest drawing for example.
After finding an image of magnolia’s I wanted to use I printed out the image. Turned the paper to suite my drawing. Drew a 1″ square grid on it. Then on my drawing paper, I created a grid with 1 1/4″ squares. This slightly enlarged the original image to fit my 11×14″ drawing paper.
See how light my grid is!
Supplies
- Ruler
- Paper copy of image
- Pencil
- Drawing paper
You really should start in the top left corner (if your right handed) that way you won’t smudge your paper as you go along. But I like to work from easiest parts to most difficult. I keep another piece of paper under my hand to prevent smudging.
Using the grid method you really improve your observation skills. You’ll notice colors that you might not have noticed when looking at the image as a whole. For the magnolia drawing I used a variety of blues with some brown, grey, yellow and white, and a tiny bit of red to create the petals. I used so much blue! The leaves were created with a variety of greens, yellows, and browns. The branches were created with two shades of brown and a grey. The stamen was created with yellows, orange, red, and some brown.
Here’s a great video of how to use the grid method