How To Draw A Grid On Canvas

Dan Scott, New Zealand Reflections, 2022 - Grid

Dan Scott, New Zealand Reflections, 2022

Grid drawing is a technique that will aid ameliorate your accuracy without compromising the development of your freehand drawing in the long-term. It basically involves placing a filigree over your reference photograph and canvas, then using that grid to assistance with the placement of your drawing.

The grid provides you with common reference points betwixt the photo and your sail. It as well allows y'all to pause the reference down into smaller and more manageable segments.

In this post, I walk you through the filigree drawing procedure using a painting I recently completed named New Zealand Reflections as an example.

Filigree Cartoon Process

Step one. Place a grid over your reference photo.

Yous can do this using editing software like Photoshop, or you can physically draw the grid on a printed version of the reference photo. I like to apply a three-by-iii grid, every bit I find it provides enough guidance without being overly tedious.

(Update: I created a simple tool that will apply a grid and grayscale to your reference photo. No confusing software required. Attempt information technology here.)

Below is the reference photo which I used to paintNew Zealand Reflections, along with a grid over the elevation placed using Photoshop. I viewed this from my tablet that is secured next to my easel.

Reference Photo With Grid

Step 2. Place a grid with the aforementioned dimensions on your sheet.

If you placed a three-by-iii grid on your reference photo, so place a 3-by-3 grid on your sail.

I start by measuring the length and width of the canvas and calculating where each line of the grid will demand to go (if yous are placing a three-past-iii grid, and so divide the length and width by three to get your cardinal measurements).

I so place a mark where the lines demand to go.Make sure they are evenly spaced across the sides.

Finally, once all the marks are in place, I complete the lines using a ruler or anything with a long, direct edge. Yous might demand some other person to aid with this if you lot are painting on a large sail (one person to hold the ruler in place and another to draw the lines).

I use a charcoal pencil to draw the grid, merely the medium does non thing as long every bit information technology does not interfere with your finished artwork.

Tip: Make sure the grid is accurate! Your entire artwork will be based on the filigree. If it is wrong, your drawing volition be wrong. The dimensions of the canvas also need to be roughly the same equally the dimensions of the reference photo for this to work properly.

Below is the grid on my canvass at the start of the painting (the lines are difficult to see because the canvas is stained with raw umber):

1. Grid on Canvas

Step 3. Use the grid to aid with the placement of your cartoon.

The grid on your canvas volition stand for to the grid on the reference photo. That means yous tin can utilise the grid to gauge the relative altitude and position of your subject.

For example, if you lot can see the horizon line is just in a higher place one of the grid lines in the reference photo, then you will know where to place the horizon line in your painting (it would go just above the corresponding grid line on the canvass).

The beauty of this technique is that, as yous start to build out the drawing, you will have more than reference points to judge and mensurate from. So if you draw the horizon line in your painting, and so you volition be able to employ that horizon line to help position other elements of the drawing.

Start by placing in the about disquisitional aspects of the cartoon, such as the horizon line, major edges, shapes, and lines. So add more particular as needed.

Tip: Many artists tend to use the filigree drawing technique to meticulously re-create the reference photograph segment by segment. I do not like to take this approach—I think information technology takes the fun out of painting. I prefer to employ the grid to merely assist with the initial drawing.

InNew Zealand Reflections, I started with the horizon line, the edges of the h2o, the mountains in the distance, and the major trees.

Below are some of my observations to give y'all an idea of how I used the grid:

The most distant office of the water is only above the half-way point in the painting. The grid helps me narrow down on this one-half-way point.
The afar mountain starts in the top right-hand corner, then takes a bumpy ride down. I look for points where the height of the mountain cross the lines of the filigree.
The big rock in the foreground is positioned around the bottom left-hand intersection. I tin can use the filigree to help determine the full general size of the rock past taking annotation of how far into each segment the rock goes.
The mist is most prominent around the left-hand side of the middle segment, just below the waterline.

2. Grid Drawing

With the initial drawing complete, I first painting in the full general color shapes and establishing the foundation of the painting. I pigment over the drawing and the grid eventually, so their usefulness is express to the early stages of the painting.

3. Grid Painting

Here is the finished painting for those interested:

Dan Scott, New Zealand Reflections, 2022, 700W

(I go into much more than detail on the fundamentals in my Painting Academy course.)

Key Takeaways

Hither are some of the cardinal takeaways from this postal service:

Grid drawing allows you lot to improve your accuracy without compromising your freehand cartoon in the long-term.
The thought is that the grid provides common reference points between the reference photo and your canvas. You can utilise this to judge the relative position of your subject.
Start by drawing in the almost critical reference points, then add more detail to the drawing equally needed.
Some artists like to use the grid drawing technique to meticulously re-create the reference photograph segment past segment. But I adopt to take a more general approach—I use it to help with the initial drawing but that is nearly information technology.

(If you desire to learn more than well-nigh color mixing and painting in full general, I invite you to bring together my free email course, 7 Days to Better Paintings).

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for taking the time to read this mail service. I appreciate it! Feel free to share with friends. If y'all want more painting tips, cheque out my Painting Academy course.

Happy painting!

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