I draw self portraits, but people say im cheating because i use a grid. How do i draw in proportion w/o a grid

Question

I draw self portraits, but some people say im cheating because i use a grid. How do i draw without using a grid with the face looking just like the picture(without tracing)

Answer 1

Yes I agree with the professor answerer....I don't think a grid is cheating at all, it would be an EXTREMELY RARE talented person to just throw out a perfect portrait without any measuring or anything.

However, if you don't want to use a grid, you can just use simple measurements and proportions. Example: Measure the height of the person's head in the pic. Let's say its 6 inches tall. Then let's say you plan to draw the head a foot tall. Measure other facial landmarks like eyes, nose, lips. Then by using simple math and that proportion you got from the head, you know that the facial features are going to be twice as tall/long/large as they are in the picture. That's a very simple example, but you get the idea. I've used this tactic before in my drawing.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Answer 4

Grids are age-old and if it's cheating, some of the world's master artists were cheaters! As you develop, however, you may find that grids are restrictive. If you are working from a photo, you will automatically differ to the photo to tell you what you are looking at instead of relying on your eye. It can become like a coloring book rather than a work of art. If you develop your eye, the final picture may not be photo-realistic, but who cares? We have cameras for that. What you will have is an expressive painting that says more than any photo can.
Keep at it! You will be very happy to have a succession of self portraits one day. Just like Rembrandt!

Answer 5

The only way it would be cheating would be if you copied someone else's art and called it your own.

Grids are not cheating. Neither would using a mirror be cheating. Would it be cheating if you used an eraser to correct a mistake in your drawing.

Who is it that established this "code of conduct" that says the use of SOME particular tool is cheating?

Answer 6

If you want to learn how to draw the perfect picture all you need is time and Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery guide from here https://tr.im/TE9tP to be in the proper path.
The lessons from Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery guide contain 208 pages and a complete of 605 illustrations.  The basic technique applied is that you begin with a picture, pull a gentle outline of the feature, and then shade it in.
Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery is an ideal allied to make the perfect draw.

Answer 7

It becomes easier with practice.
Ah, knowing facial muscles and where they go will help you. Knowing proportions will guide your hand, also.
I don't use grids or any rulers, and my drawings from pictures, although imperfect, have a resemblance to the original pic.
If you go away from your drawing for a lil bit, your mishaps will be clearer to you once you return to it.

Answer 8

So..
If you want to discover the secrets of drawing realistic pencil portraits you really need to visit this site: http://pencilportraits.toptips.org

These drawing lessons, both throughly enjoyable and productive, go well beyond casual sketching: students learn to observe minutely the details of any given face, to see what is, and what is not, before them, and how to translate what they see into what are after all just pencil marks on paper.

I highly recommend it for both the experienced and the inexperienced artists alike.
Bye Bye

Answer 9

The only thing that matters in art is the work itself. I know artist that use projectors to tranfer an image and then paint it, i wouldn't call it cheating and i am an artist. My art can be checked out at hellosanantonio.com under artist name ''Guerro'' in the local artist section.

Answer 10

There is NO such thing as cheating in art. They are just jealous or misinformed. An artist uses whatever it takes to get the desired results.