This is digital. I'm going to try to do the entire course digitally and pick up what I can out of it. I did this with a grid and drew a lot of it upside down. I then put the reference over it, and turned it on and off to show where the glaring errors were.

Do you ever use projectors?

It feels good to finally have this started!

Thanks Morgan for this course! I'm looking forward to honing my skill. Great tip with the paper for the girds!

I wasn't successful in folding the paper, so I did a one inch grid.. (I am going to go back and try the paper folding again.. it looked really interesting to do.) I wonder if I should go ahead and use the fixative on this drawing now? Thank you @Morgan Weistling For a grid drawing (which I've never done before...) It took me forever to do this and I am not even sure if I have it accurate enough. This was a big eye opener for me.

Just started this course — I loved the paper folding trick for gridding! Cannot believe I didn’t know that until now! Thanks for making another great course, Morgan. Here is my sketch…

I started drawing during the first covid lock down and have spent most of my time since then on learning construction/anatomy, mostly doing sketches. I picked up painting last spring and have felt very disheartened for the last 6 months, since none of the things i learned seemed to translate to a brush and canvas. Glad I found Kristians interview with Morgan. The grid definitely helps with "turning my brain" off. Not sure if the drawing is good enough to proceed, maybe not enough detail, or too little?

The beginnings of the first portrait

A bit more challenging than I thought it would be, but I found the grid very helpful.

@Morgan Weistling I'm having a terrible time getting my print out to match my canvas going from corner to corner like you are demonstrating. The only way I can make this work is to size it to 8 x 6 which of course is not good to grid. I've printed several prints of the photo using different margins etc. None of them match corner to corner on the canvas. Not even close enough to use. I would have through 10 x 8 would have worked, seems 8 x 6 worked, but it doesn't either. What size is the print out you are using? I've almost run out of ink printing this and want to get it right the next time. I am using a 16 x 12 canvas, and a yard stick... thanks so much for any advise you can give to help me get this gridded.

Drawing assignment. Used a 8x10 canvas just because it’s was available. Reasonably happy. Is it ready to fix?

Took your advice. Slowed down. flicked eyes back and forth. Flicked between photos of drawing and reference (most helpful). It’s better than 10 days ago. But I’m certainly not overjoyed yet. Somewhere in the videos you tactfully said a version of “find your own stinkin’ errors” 🙂 And I needed to be reminded of that. I think our default is to ask for help first rather than as a last resort. Great reminder. Thanks for that.

Ready to spray fix?

My revision. I will be sure to use a lighter, smoother application with the acrylic wash in future.

i used gray acrylic to smooth out the surface of this canvas pad - that's what I had in the 12x16 size. I got some thin willow charcoal. I feel like making the grid is indeed tedious and I feel like I'm not totally on point but it worked out or close enough. Even with the grid getting the mouth correct was difficult (it's still not great but acceptable) so I did some Xs in the mouth boxes and that helped. I put in a good amount of time and then when I felt done I just went nuts with doing the BG too but I don't think it's going to hurt the process. I used hairspray as fixative.

Hmmm. 🤔

Here is my drawing. Any corrections needed? I enjoyed drawing it. Painting is a tricky part for me, so I am looking forward to learning in this class. Thanks for sharing the tips for grid lines using a piece of paper. It expedites the process. Thank you.

Here is my grid drawing; was a pleasant experience compared to free handing it.

I now consider this to be one of my favorite videos on portrait drawing. It's a great concept to use a grid with negative shapes. I can now confidently draw shapes without any wobbly lines. though I always struggle with values and color, I hope this course will solve my problem.