Grid Drawing
Grid Drawing
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29:07

Portrait Painting in Oil Without a Brain

Grid Method

Your assignment is to do this with me! Again, it may seem overly simple but learning how to do this is a great place to start for the rest of the course.

Download the reference from the downloads tab of this lesson.

Newest
Gannon Beck
It feels good to finally have this started!
Morgan Weistling
a good start. keep going.
@arlenedanielartist
Thanks Morgan for this course! I'm looking forward to honing my skill. Great tip with the paper for the girds!
Morgan Weistling
good job, now move into shadow with paint
Lynda Baxter
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.
Morgan Weistling
yes, this good. move on
@micheledavisart
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…
Morgan Weistling
great start!
@mnk
12d
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?
Morgan Weistling
it's good enough to move forward but keep thinking the same objective way with the brush and improve your drawing with paint
Angel Kritikos
The beginnings of the first portrait
Fancy Mongoose
A bit more challenging than I thought it would be, but I found the grid very helpful.
Lynda Baxter
@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.
Morgan Weistling
just draw a line where the canvas should be to match the photo and grid from there.either from the top or bottom. doesn't matter.
@jimpansyart
Drawing assignment. Used a 8x10 canvas just because it’s was available. Reasonably happy. Is it ready to fix?
Morgan Weistling
Yes,. But it's harder to paint smaller the way the demo is structured for beginners. But you can do it.
Shelly England
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.
Morgan Weistling
you are in the ballpark. good job.
Debra Rank
1mo
Ready to spray fix?
Gaye Sekula
My revision. I will be sure to use a lighter, smoother application with the acrylic wash in future.
@omnesilere
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.
Mark Watkins
Morgan Weistling
You have the overall placement of where the head is going to go. But when you look closer at the smaller shapes, you have not been as careful as I think you could be. Avoid thinking, just copy even the smaller shapes in each square, more specifically.
Shelly England
Hmmm. 🤔
Morgan Weistling
you are almost there. try squinting at the photo especially in the area of the eyes and see the dark shapes that mass together. fill those in so you can see where you are deviating from the photo. your drawing should have those filled in so you can really judge if your little shapes are correctly placed and correct size. right now they are not. His right eye is too big and a little too high. But fill in the shadow shapes to see it and then use rapid eye movement back and forth between the photo and your drawing. THE KEY TO GETTING BETTER IS SEEING YOUR MISTAKES. the best thing I can do for you is to help you see them with different little tricks to help you have a fresh eye.
@mahatsu
1mo
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.
Morgan Weistling
everything is in the right place. that's a great beginning. Now, continue the thinking the mindset that the grid taught you as you move on with paint. Paint should not change the way you think when it comes to putting things where they belong. Keep drawing and measuring each stroke. Be specific.
Susan Pennington
Here is my grid drawing; was a pleasant experience compared to free handing it.
Morgan Weistling
okay, good . got you where you need to be.
Zainul
1mo
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.
Morgan Weistling
overall a good job. correct his right eye, or eye on our left. it's too low. we don;t want that to go into the painting stages.
@lipstiger
1mo
I am looking forward to this course, I am 67 years old and have tried to paint a portrait about 12 times, all horrible! I am not gonna lie the charcoal was difficult for me to use. You sir are an amazing artist and I am going to benefit GREATLY!
Morgan Weistling
looks like you got a good start on number 13 then. Just keep the grid thinking going when the paint goes on.
Michèle Girard
I am waiting for my material to be delivered, being new to oil paint, I had to buy everything. I did have a Fredix Canvas pad, so I am practicing on it. The coat of acrylic grey ended up drying a lot darker than the wet color, so I applied a second lighter coat. It makes the canvas feel like plastic. I probably used too thick of a coat. When the panels arrive I will be redoing this whole exercise. More practice definitely won't hurt. I noodled with this too much, but I did get a pretty good likeness.
Morgan Weistling
check the shapes on the over back of head and top. You've rounded it more than it is.
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Award winning fine artist represented by @legacygalleryart in Scottsdale AZ
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