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THE GRIDDING
METHOD 
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| Don't
let anyone tell you, that using a grid to create an accurate
reproduction of a subject is somehow wrong or a form of cheating.
It is a very basic but extremely effective tool and eliminates
many of the basic problems encountered in drawing such as:
perspective, proportion and relationship. Leonardo da Vinci
and other great masters used this same method and it was even
regarded, at one time, as a trade secret. Using nothing more
than a pencil and a plastic 12" ruler, an accurate linear
drawing can be produced with very little practise. It is this
accuracy that is essential when drawing lifelike portraits! |
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To
create a grid, simply apply accurate, vertical and horizontal
lines to the photo or picture that you're going to draw.
The grid can be drawn directly onto the original photograph
or onto a good photocopied reproduction. I actually drew
my grid of half inch squares, using 'Paint Shop Pro' for
accuracy, onto an A4 sheet of paper and then photocopied
this onto clear acetate. This is then clipped over the
original subject and fixed securely to prevent movement.
This method prevents marking and damaging of the original
picture... very important if working from a customer's
cherished photograph.
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As
a beginner and taking the cartoon of 'Oliver Hardy' as a
whole, the prospect of drawing an accurate copy probably
seems rather daunting... but the grid, placed over it, has
divided everything into a collection of fairly simple shapes.
If you progress square by square and simply draw the contents
of each one, you'll find that you should be able to draw
very accurately. Your first couple of attempts may not be
perfect, of course, but with just a little practise, this
method will be an invaluable tool to aid you in producing
lifelike portraits. |
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Lightly
draw a corresponding grid onto your drawing or layout paper.
At this stage you can actually enlarge your copy by increasing
the size of the squares... if the original grid was half
an inch, you can double the copy size by drawing 1"
squares... or 12" squares if you wish to draw a mural
on the side of your house.
Taking one square at a time... find exactly what is contained
within it... decide where each line begins and ends within
that square... is it straight or does it curve slightly?
You should end up with something like the image on the right... |
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Et
voila!... the finished inked, drawing.
Not bad considering the only tools we used were a cheap
plastic ruler and a pencil.
In this particular case, I inked in the drawing using
the original picture as reference before erasing the pencil
grid. With my pencil portraits, I usually erase around
the subject and simply blend any remaining pencil lines
into the shading. Hopefully, this page demonstrates that
the gridding method does actually produce a faithful reproduction
of just about any subject you wish to draw: automobiles,
flowers, animals... and of course portraits.
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