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Grid Drawing – Copying Pictures Using a Grid Squares

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Choosing a Picture and Grid Size

When selecting a picture to copy, make sure it is large and clear. You might wish to photocopy or do a computer printout rather than drawing directly on a photograph. You need an image with clear lines and edges – a blurry image makes it difficult to find a line to follow.
Decide on your grid size. If the grid is too large, you’ll have to do too much drawing in between each square. If the grid is too small, you’ll find it difficult to erase, and it can get very confusing. There is no definite rule, as the size of your picture and the subject can be so varied – but something from one inch to half an inch will be about right. You don’t have to divide your photo up mathematically – if the last squares are only half filled, that’s fine.

Drawing Your Grids

a gridded picture ready to draw

Measure up your grid, drawing the lines with a fine black pen. Dark grayscale photographs may need a white gel pen to show up. You can also use a computer to add a grid to your picture, as in this example – using the ‘grids and rulers’ in your graphics program as a guide, and drawing horizontal and vertical lines in a contrasting color.
Copy the grid onto your drawing paper, using a sharp, B pencil (medium hardness) and a light touch, so that you can erase it easily. Beginners should draw it the same size as the grid on the original picture. Once you’re comfortable with the process, you can use larger grids to scale up drawings.

The best way to learn this process is to try it – why not print this picture out and have a go?

A Few Squares at a Time

grid drawing in progress

When copying the picture, use spare sheets of paper to cover some of the image, so you can focus on a few squares at a time. This is especially useful for large pictures which can become confusing. Place your drawing and the original picture close together, so you can look directly from one to the other.

Following Shapes and Using Negative Space

the grid lines act as reference points to help you draw your line in the right place.

Look for clear edges in your picture. With this example, you can clearly see the outline of the jug against the background. Notice where the shape crosses the gridline – this is the reference-point that you can use. Don’t try to measure where it is on the grid, but rather judge its position (halfway up? one-third?) and find the same spot on your drawing grid. Follow the shape, looking for where the line next meets the grid.
The area shaded gray shows a NEGATIVE SPACE formed between the object and the grid. Observing these shapes can help you follow the shape of the line. Notice how the gray space looks fairly triangular, with a couple of chunks taken out – that makes it easy to copy.

The Finished Grid Drawing

a completed grid drawing, showing the main details of the picture

The completed grid drawing will include all the major lines of the object – outline, important details and clear shadow shapes. If you want to indicate the position of subtle details, such as a higlight, use a light dotted line. Now you can carefully erase your grid, patching up any erased parts of your drawing as you go. Then you can complete it as a line drawing, or add shading. If you need a very clean surface, you might want to trace your completed sketch onto a fresh sheet of paper.

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Figure Drawing – Proportions of the Human Figure

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Relative Proportions of the Body

A common problem in figure drawing is getting everything in proportion. While there are lots of sutbtle differences between individuals, human proportions fit within a fairly standard range, though artists have historically looked for idealised standards against which the rest of us don’t always measure up! In figure drawing, the basic unit of measurement is the ‘head’, which is the distance from the top of the head to the chin. This handy unit of measurement is reasonably standard, and has long been used by artists to establish the proportions of the human figure.

The proportions used in figure drawing are:
- An average person, is generally 7-and-a-half heads tall (including the head).
- An ideal figure, used when aiming for an impression of nobility or grace, is drawn at 8 heads tall.
- An heroic figure, used in the heroic for the depiction of gods and superheroes, is eight-and-a-half heads tall(beware of creating a ‘pinhead!’) Most of the additional length comes from a bigger chest and longer legs.

For most figures, the standard proportions are a safe bet, and lightly placing your seven horizontals at the very outset can be a helpful way to ensure your figure will fit on the page. Then more careful measurements can be taken according to your individual subject. Remember that these proportions are for a basic standing figure, and changes in pose will affect the height.

Measuring the Model


Have you ever wondered what artists are actually doing when they peer at something over an outstretched pencil-top? Now you know: they are measuring up the model (or object). Ok, so a pencil-top is a pretty rough measure, but it is an immense help in getting down the proportions of your subject.

Using this method, it is important to stand in the same place, and to keep your head as still as possible when measuring, and to extend the arm fully with elbow straight, each time a measurement is made. You should not be too close to the model.

Remember that the basic unit in figure drawing is the model’s head, from top to chin. Holding your pencil in a fist with the thumb upwards, and arm stretched out fully, close your non-master eye and align the top of your pencil with the top of the model’s head, and slide your thumb down the pencil until it aligns with the model’s chin. There you have your basic unit of measurement on the pencil. Repeat this step whenever necessary.

Now, to find how many heads tall your model is, drop your hand slightly so that the top of the pencil is at the chin. Observe carefully the point on the figure that aligns with your thumb – this should be roughly below the breastbone. (2 heads – you count the head itself). Drop the top of the pencil to that point, and so on, down to the feet.

To place these measurements on the paper, simply make seven equally spaced horizontal lines down the paper. The actual distance doesn’t matter, so long as they are even. You are scaling the observed information to fit the page. Your top division will be the head. As you begin to draw the rest of the figure, check the placement of key points against your head measurements. The armpit begins just above the second head line, the hips at the third, for example. Naturally this will vary depending on the bodyshape and pose of the model. The head unit can also be used to check the size and relative placement of other parts of the body, as demonstrated by the red lines in the diagram above. Use the ‘scale’ you have established with the height to judge the correct distance on the paper. In this example, the wrist is one head-unit away from the body.

A Simple Aid to Accurate Drawing

Estimating angles against convenient verticals is a useful way of checking that the direction of lines within the pose are accurate. Sometimes existing features – a doorway behind the model, and the edge of the paper – provide this reference. An alternative method, handy for smaller detail within the page, is using two pencils as a sort of protractor. This is an excellent way of minimising error and ensuring a correctly proportioned figure.

Hold them both in the one hand as shown in the example, arm outstretched, such that one pencil is vertical. Use a doorframe or corner to check if need be. Viewing the model behind the pencils, move the second pencil so it is aligned with whatever bodypart needs to be located. Then, being careful not to move the pencils in relation to each other, line them up against your drawing, extending an imaginary line from the angled pencil to draw the required line. This method is particularly useful for correct alignment of the limbs. Of course, you can also use it to check the size of non-vertical angles – such as a bent leg.

If you find this method useful, a handy measuring tool can be constructed by using a split pin to hinge two strips of strong card togther

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Negative Space Drawing – How to Use Negative Space

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Negative Space Drawing – What is Negative Space?

An incorrect approach to negative space focuses on the form of the object while drawing.

In negative space drawing, instead of observing the positive shape of an object, you draw the shape of the space around the object. This may include any background detail or pattern, or it may be drawn as a simple silhouette. In many drawing books, you’ll find an example which begins with drawing an outline of the object, and shading all around it. Although it is a silhouette, this is NOT correct negative space drawing. As you draw the outline, you are doing a POSITIVE drawing – focussing on the positive spaces – the solid shapes of the object.
The in-progress example below has been drawn that way, looking at the shape of each part of the object, and drawing its outline, then shading. This method will not help you achieve the objective of the negative space drawing exercise, which is to understand the shapes and spaces around an object.

Negative Space Drawing – Observing Shapes and Spaces

The correct approach to negative space drawing involves observing the shapes formed between different parts of the object, or between one edge of the object and a boundary. By drawing the background spaces or shapes between the edge of the object and the opposing edge or boundary, the positive form of the object is left ‘undrawn’, resulting in a correct negative space drawing. This is the reverse of normal positive space drawing, where you would be looking at the form and drawing its edges.
In the in-progress example below, note how a sketched border closes off external shapes. The stripes in the background cloth allow the observation of small shapes which add up together to reveal the silhouette of the object. The most obvious example of clear negative spaces in this drawing are the arches and triangles, which are easy to observe.

Applying Negative Space Drawing

Seeing negative spaces correctly is a skill worth developing. Negative space is used a great deal when you want to avoid outlining and create true value drawing. It is needed when you have a texture like light-colored hair or grass, when you need to focus on the dark shadows behind and underneath the strands. The ‘foreground’ – the positive shapes of light hair or grass – are ‘left behind’ as white paper while the shadows and darks are drawn with dark charcoal or pencil.
A sound understanding of negative space drawing is critical for watercolor painting, as a watercolor is built through a progressive overlaying of negative-space areas, working from light to dark.

In the photograph below, note how the red-outlined dark areas lock together to reveal the form of the foreground shapes of the leaves. Focusing on the leaf forms is fine for a line drawing, but if you want a shaded value drawing, you’ll need to observe the negative spaces as shown, so that you can leave behind the positive space, drawing the leaves lighter, and leaving the white edges and veins of the leaves clear.

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