We'll do contour drawings of faces, and then we will use the grid again, to enlarge a drawing.
CONTOUR DRAWING OF A FACE, using an "X" grid and pen only
For these drawings, use a black felt pen to draw a continuous, contour line. If you like, you can do a simple watercolor wash for an underpainting, and let that dry. Then, choose a picture of a face from a magazine. Cut it so that it is in proportion to the size of your painting, where you will do your drawing.
So, if your magazine picture is about 2x3, your format for the drawing will be in proportion to that -- say, 4 x 6.
Mount your paper on the right side of a board (if you're right-handed), and mount your reference picture to the left of that, on the same board.
Draw a light pencil line from corner to corner, forming an "X" -- on both the reference pic and the watercolor paper, to give yourself some reference angles. You can leave it at that, or you can draw a vertical line down the middle of the paper, and a horizontal line across the middle of the paper. Both of those lines would intersect the middle of the "X". Be sure to do the same thing on both the reference photo and the watercolor paper.
Now, start drawing the face -- I usually start with the eyes, or the eye area, and work out from there.
Don't draw the face with pencil first. I realize there's no erasing with a pen, so sometimes you will draw a "wrong" line. Just keep going.
Try to do this without lifting your pen -- even though you occasionally will have to. If you do pick up your pen, try to pick up where you left off, and then connect your lines.
Sometimes, you will be pleased with the result -- and sometimes, not. But, you will learn something with every face.
See if you can do a face-a-day, for 7 days. (If that's too much, do at least 3.)
USING THE GRID AS A DRAWING TOOL, for enlarging a drawing
For this project, start with one of your small contour drawings of a face. To make it somewhat easier, square off your drawing. In this example, the original drawing is 5" x 5", and I want to enlarge it to 10" x 10".
I draw a grid directly onto the paper, in pencil -- horizontal and vertical lines, 1" apart -- resulting in 5 squares across and 5 squares down . . .
If you don't want to draw directly onto your original drawing, you can either put tracing paper over your drawing and draw the grid on that, or you can make a copy of it, and draw your grid on the copy.
Now, divide some of the squares even further, with some diagonal lines (where the facial features are).
You can add a few more horizontal and vertical lines, in the eyes and mouth areas.
Now, it's time to draw the grid on the 10" x 10" square. Start by drawing the horizontal and vertical lines. Since you want 5 squares across and 5 squares down, draw the lines 2" apart.
Further divide some of the squares with diagonal lines (making sure that you're dividing the exact same squares as the small drawing, in exactly the same way.)
Now, finish the grid with a few more horizontal and vertical lines, so this grid exactly matches the small grid . . .
It's now time to start drawing the face. Start in the middle, drawing the contour lines in pencil . . .
Then, just move from square to square, drawing the lines within each section. If it's helpful, you can cover up the sections that you're not drawing, so you don't get distracted.
When you've finished your drawing, draw over the pencil lines with a black felt pen (but, DON"T draw the grid lines in ink!)
Finish by erasing all the pencil grid lines.
This technique can be used when drawing any subject!
You can also use the grid when drawing from a photograph. Just draw your grid on a piece of tracing paper, or make a copy of the photo and draw your grid on that. Sometimes it's helpful to draw the grid lines in red (on the reference photo), so you don't get confused.
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