One of the biggest struggles in creating portrait art is getting the proportions right. It doesn't matter if you're great at shading pencil drawings. If the initial proportions are wrong, the likeliness of the person in the portrait will be off. I used to draw portraits completely freehand (examples below), but then I started using a grid for the sketching stage to get better proportions and likeliness and to sketch faster. I think it's a good tool, when you're drawing from a photo.
These are some of my freehand pencil portrait drawings from 2009. I think they would've benefited from using a grid.
This acrylic painting and the rest of the artworks in this post were sketched with the help of a grid.
I've executed the grid method in a few different ways. If I have the reference picture printed out, I might draw the grid straight on the picture. If I don't want to ruin the reference picture, I would draw the grid on an overhead projector transparency with a marker and just attach the transparency on the picture. I even used to tape the transparency grid on my computer screen, if I didn't have the image printed out.
A grid made of an overhead projector transparency.
At the moment I only use reference pictures on the computer and don't print them out. I also made a quick video on how I use a grid now. Instead of any of the stuff I wrote in the last paragraph, I make the grid in GIMP (a free image
editor). Then I draw a grid of the same size (same number of rows and columns) on my grid
paper and use the reference photo on screen as a guideline for my
sketch. You can, however, draw the grid in a smaller or bigger scale to fit your paper. You can also number the rows and columns if it helps you. I don't need to erase the grid lines from the paper afterwards, because
I'll transfer the final sketch onto my actual drawing or painting surface.
Grid on a reference photo using GIMP.
How to make a grid in GIMP 2.8.2
Open your reference photo in GIMP.
Set the grid visible: View -> Show grid
Change the dimensions of the grid: Image -> Configure grid -> Spacing -> Set the size you want -> Click OK
Note that the grid you make this way will NOT stay on the photo when you save it, close it
and open it again.
Ennen piirsin muotokuvapiirustuksia ja luonnoksia maalauksia varten
vapaalla kädellä. Mittasuhteista saa kuitenkin paremmat ja luonnoksen
nopeammin valmiiksi käyttäen jotain apuvälinettä, kuten ruudukkoa.
Ruudukon voi piirtää suoraan tulostetulle mallikuvalle. Ruudukon voi
piirtää myös esimerkiksi läpinäkyvälle piirtoheitinkalvolle
kalvotussilla ja asettaa kalvon kuvan päälle. En kuitenkaan yleensä
tulosta mallikuvaa, vaan katson sitä ruudulta, joten ruudukko pitää myös
tehdä koneella. Väliaikaisen ruudukon voi tehdä helposti GIMP:illä.
Seuraavaksi piirrän samanlaisen ruudukon (yhtä monta riviä ja saraketta)
ruutupaperille, jolle teen luonnoksen. Siirrän valmiin luonnoksen
varsinaiselle piirustuspaperille tai maalauspohjalle, joten ruudukkoa ei
tarvitse yrittääkään poistaa.
Ruudukko GIMP 2.8.2:lla
Avaa mallikuva GIMP:issä.
Näytä -> Näytä ruudukko
Kuva -> Määritä ruudukko... -> Välistys -> Aseta haluamasi välistys pikseleinä -> OK
Would you like to paint on cardboard, but have noticed that the paint soaks into and you can't achieve bright colors? I'll show you how to prepare a piece of cardboard for painting with gesso primer. Cardboard works for both acrylic and oil painting and you might sometimes want to use it instead of canvas, board, wood or paper to save money or to be more environmentally friendly.
A quick tip on how to save acrylic paint for later! If you mix too much acrylic paint or pour too much paint out of the tube, do you know what to do with the leftover paint? If you're planning to continue painting the next day, you can't just leave it, cause acrylic paint will dry by then. You can watch the video on how to keep acrylic paint wet overnight and longer or keep reading. Mixed too much acrylic paint? You know how you sometimes mix too much acrylic paint or pour too much paint out of the tube? What do you do with the leftover paint? If you're planning to continue painting the next day, you can't just leave it, 'cause acrylic paint will dry by then. How to save leftover paint for reuse Here's one tip! Instead of pouring and mixing paint on a palette, use little containers you can close. The paint won't dry out when the lid is closed. That way you don't have to waste the leftover paint. And if you've mixed a good color and
As I've mentioned before, I don't usually draw my sketches for paintings straight onto watercolor paper or canvas. I draw the sketch on a separate paper, where it's easier to erase and clean up the outlines and then transfer the finished sketch onto my painting surface. In this blog post I'll list five different methods to transfer your drawing onto the painting surface. They're all either cheap or completely free. Some require a computer or other technology and some don't. So hopefully, if you're struggling with how to transfer your sketches, one of these methods (or a combination of some of them) will suite your budget and the supplies you already have available. Lyhyesti suomeksi alla.
Have you ever wondered if you can mix charcoal and acrylic paint by painting acrylic over charcoal or drawing charcoal over acrylic? I tried it and here are the results. Read on to find out how to combine charcoal and acrylics into a mixed media painting without smudging the charcoal lines and the paint colors.
Having trouble coming up with ideas for art projects, art blog posts or art YouTube channel videos? I've listed 100 (or 101) art video title or topic ideas for YouTube in this post. A lot of them work for blog posts, too. Some of them you can use as ideas for you art projects that you don't even post online. I divided the list into sections: general art video title ideas, art challenges, art tutorials, themed artworks and art series. Some art challenges have many versions of them (3 marker challenge, 2 marker challenge and 1 marker challenge or 10 minute and 30 minute drawing challenge), but I'll just name one of the versions. You can download the list PDF format to save it or print it out.
this is helpful.
ReplyDeleteI love the parrot.
Glad to hear that. Thanks!
Delete