Lesson 2 - The Grid Method
Reference Materials
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Assignment
Use the Grid Method to draw a simply lay-in. It doesn’t have to be super detailed, just enough for you to see how the Grid Method works. You can use a more detailed grid (easier) or a simple grid (harder).
You can use the baby reference include in the Course Assets (https://mydrawingtutorials.com/z8265) or choose one of your own. Have fun with this assignment!
Lesson Transcript
There are two phases to any portrait drawing: the lay-in phase and the shading phase. Although many artists put a lot of emphasis on the shading phase, the lay-in is arguably the most important aspect.
It is the foundation of the portrait. This is where we capture the gesture and likeness of our subject. Get the lay-in wrong, and all the shading in the world won’t save your portrait.
So, with that said, let’s go over the different methods for doing a good lay-in.
There are two main ways to draw the lay-in: the grid method and the free-hand method. The grid method is the simpler and easier of the two, so let’s go over that one first.
With the grid method, we first draw a square grid on our reference photo. In this example, I’ll divide the side of the reference into 6 equal sections and I’ll divide the top into 4 equal sections. I chose these dimensions because they were the easiest, but you can divide up your reference anyway you like.
Then we’ll draw the same grid on the drawing paper.
Now, using these grids as a guide, we can copy the reference photo over to our drawing paper. We can look at the intersections between the grid and our reference and use these landmarks to help keep our lines accurate.
For example, I can see that the outline of the baby’s forehead intersects with the grid at this point, this point, and this point. So I will mark them out on my paper and use them to help me draw the curve.
Continuing with this process, I can see that the outline of the nose intersects at this point, this point, this point, and this point.
Next, I can see that the baby’s hand fits into these 2 corner boxes, so I’ll sketch it in.
And I know that the nose’s nostril will go into the upper left corner of this box here. The grid will also tell me where to place the eyes, as well as how large to make them.
As you can see, having this grid as a guide makes the drawing so much easier.
And once finished, we would carefully erase the guidelines on our drawing paper and carry on with the shading. By the way, because we will end up erasing the grid lines on our drawing paper, it’s a good idea to put them in really lightly.
When using this method, you’ll be surprised at how accurate your drawing can be, even if you have little experience. So if you are a beginner, I highly recommend you try this method to help you get started and build some confident.
Here are some tips on how to utilize this method
1) Label the rows and columns: In this method, it’s very important to accurately match each square on your reference with the corresponding one on your drawing. But when you have this many squares, it’s easy to get lost.
By labeling your grid, you’ll be able to accurately match the squares every time.
2) Use a plastic overlay: it can be cumbersome to have to draw a grid on your reference every time you do a drawing. One shortcut is to draw the grid onto a plastic sleeve like this one using permanent ink, and then simply insert different references into it every time you draw. That way, you’ll only have to draw the grid on your drawing paper.
3) Shrinking or Enlarging your reference: Another cool thing about this technique is that you can use it to manipulate the size of your reference. For instance, suppose you were drawing from a really small photographs and you would like your drawing to fit onto a larger drawing paper. All you would have to do is make the grid on your drawing paper twice as large. In this case, while the grid on the reference is 1 x 1 inches, the grid on the drawing paper is 2 x 2 inches. So now, your drawing will be twice as big as your reference.
You can also use this same technique to shrink down a large reference.
4) Using a simple grid. One objection some artists have to the grid method is that although it delivers results very quickly, it can become a bit of a crutch. And there is some truth to this. If you rely on it exclusively, it can limit your growth. That’s why I recommend you use it as a stepping stone in your early stages of learning.
Many beginning artists has this limiting belief that they just can’t draw a realistic and accurate portrait. I know I definitely suffered from this when I was starting out. And nothing shatters this belief like sitting down and drawing your first realistic portrait. The grid method can help you do this very quickly and in that sense, it is a great learning tool.
However, to prevent it from becoming a crutch one thing you could do is gradually decrease the dimension of your grid.
You might start out using an 8 x 8 grid, but as you become more confident, try using a 4 x 4 grid or even a 2x2 grid. The simpler the grid, the more freehand drawing you’ll have to do and this will force you to grow as an artist.
5) Using a modified grid: In addition to the simple grid, you can also use a modified grid. The modified grid is essentially a 2 by 2 grid with diagonal lines drawn through the center. It offers the same guidance as a normal grid, while being very simple and convenient. Nowadays, whenever I use the grid method, I almost always use a modified grid.
As you can see, the grid method has many amazing benefits, especially for beginners, but it does come with some limitations. One of which is that it can only be used on photo references.
So although I recommend you use the grid as a learning tool in the beginning, as you become more advanced, you might want to move on to the more dynamic and versatile free-hand method, which we’ll cover in the next lesson.