Attached is a template that I made if anyone can use it. I printed it on transparency film, let it dry thoroughly, then sprayed it with a fixative. You could also print it on regular printer paper then take it to a Kinkos or some where that will copy it onto a transparent film. You can also buy pre-printed grids in various grid sizes in some art stores.

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J

thanks j that awesome.
Lori

Thanks J-Lynn. I'm sure that will be very useful to people. YOu can also search online for grid templates that can be printed out on acetate. Like J-Lynn said, make sure you wait for the ink to dry on the acetate or it will smudge and disappear at the first touch.

Is there any sort of software that you can use to place a grid on a photo? I have tried using my paint program to put one on but there is no real way to measure and I end up with a wonky grid.

Juniperdime,I use a free software called Photofiltre.The picture below is one I Fixed for Hiyas as grayscale and cropped.Here it is with a 100 pixels grid.If you are like me can't afford programs like photo shop or others then this is a must have.If you download this software you can find the grid generator in the tool bar under "filter" then "other".You can adjust the size from 0 to 100.The 100 is the largest.Also in the tool bar under "adjust" is "posterize" which help in seeing the differ values in your drawing.


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Thanks a lot! Wow...that's exciting. I will be sure to check that out.

Thanks again!

I also make good use of PhotoFiltre - great little free program.

There is also a Free Graph Paper program that allows you to design your own grids to print at any interval and size that I find useful.

You could also use Inkscape to draw a grid over an imported bitmapped file. (also free software)

That program is amazing. You can do so many things with it and the best part is it's FREE..lol!! Thank you so much for mentioning that.

I always try the grid but it never seems to work for me its like im starting all over in learning to draw .

I'm like most people and don't have the need to save up the cash for Photoshop. So I use the GIMP. It's free also. You can create a grid with the GIMP by going to "Filters > Render > Pattern > Grid". I don't believe the GIMP is near as powerfull as Photoshop (no layer options, GIMP is slow with a graphics tablet), but for the price it's great.

Cool forum and site by the way. I've been reading and learning for the past week or so. I mostly work in airbrush, but I believe it is extremely beneficial to learn how to draw for so many different reasons.

I have done a lot of grid drawings before and they have all come out great however I lkie the process of regular copying better for some reason. I guess I don't feel so restrained.

Grids are good for complicated things though.

Cool grid J...thanks!!

And Ted thanks for the referel for photofiltre. Its a great program and easy to use. I tried Gimp actually bought it on cd from ebay and its way to complicated for me to use. So this one works out perfectly!!!

Kim,
I hope you realize the grid is a tool for helping to transfer a picture to your drawing paper. It's for beginners or to help experienced artists check their work. To see your work you obviously don't need this. You have developed your eye. The only reason you would use it is if you found you couldn't get something just right.
Paulette
Ps. You did an amazing job on the little girl sucking her thumb.

Here's another trick for using a grid. Lets say you are using a 1 inch grid for your picture. Well when it gets to the squares that are more complicated (like the eyes) then you take that particular square of the grid and grid it into smaller grids.

If you need a picture, let me know and I'll post one.

Thanks J=Lynn you saved me some ruler work

I guess thats what I was thinking of saying.
Plus sometimes you could have drawn the grid too dark and even after erasing, you still can see parts of it.

Also if you start doing each square individually, you don't see the image as a whole, just like a jigsaw puzzle. Then when the pieces don't fit, you try to make them fit, consequently spreading out and deforming that section of the drawing. -I hope that analogy makes sense.

All I am saying is that you have to be careful with it! I am currently making a duplication of an Escher. If you know who Escher is, You would know he is very geometrically intricate. The grid helped out a lot but it also messed me up a bit because I screwed up one part so I have to fix everything else.

Just found this.Grid tutorial
Paulette

I finally received this book yesterday Paulette. Its wonderful with clear descriptions of many areas of drawing including grids. Scroll down to Studio Tips on the left side of the screen to find the Grid tutorial.

Are you referring to "Drawing from Life to Line"? That looks like an awesome book!

I have heard people talk about using grids to enlarge images. I guess you would just increase the size of the squares in the transferred image. Correct?

Yes, that's the book I meant. It really is a wonderful reference.

ANd yes, you can increase the size of your drawing by increasing the size of the squares on the paper. Just make sure youhave the same number of squares on your reference as on your paper.

I just went surfing through Mike Sibleys site. There is an amazing amount of info you can get just by following the links. You'll have to let us know if his book lives up to your expectations.
Paulette

Well, here's a good option since you can make a grid any size you want quickly & easily.

Grid Maker


J

I only use the grid in oil paintings. In drawings I simply measure easily recognizable points, corner of eyes, nose, mouth, etc.

I used the grid to enlarge a small photos when I painted portraits in oil paints. I would scan a photo and then make my marks on the printed version of the picture. I would then let one or two inches on the printed photo equal maybe four inches on the canvas or panel.

If the photo was an 8 x 10 and my portrait was to be a 16 x 20 this worked out fine. I would divide both into four smaller rectangles. Each rectangle would be 2 x 2 1/2 inches on the photo and 4 x 5 inches on the canvas. This helped me to get my composition on the same scale as my reference photo.

I would make my lines on the canvas very light so the graphite didn't dull my painting.

Any thing that makes drawing and painting easier can also work against us. The idea is to train our eyes to see the error in our drawings and know what to do to correct them. Measuring can do this. In measureing you do the fractions like I explained above with the grid.

If the center of a photo is at the center of the eyes and just in line with the eye brows then the center of your drawing will be the same regardless how much bigger your drawing is than your photo.

If an important point is one third from the right and two thirds of the photo from the top then it will be at these same coordinates on your drawing, and so on. It is the same principle as the grid but you don't draw any lines. You simple measure the points with a ruler.

I hope I have explained this clear enough. If not I can post an example.

i cant see the template....where is it and why cant i view it

Laurie,

It's in post 22, two posts up from yours.