Switched my mind on using reference grids after a year of avoiding them

I always thought reference grids were cheating until I tried one on a digital portrait last week. The proportions came out spot on in 20 minutes instead of me erasing and redrawing for an hour. Has anyone else had a similar turnaround on a tool they refused to touch?

2 comments

2 Comments

jadep4127d agoMost Upvoted

Started using a lightbox for tracing rough sketches and it saved me so much time on getting the base shapes right. Now I see grids the same way - just a tool to help your eye, not cheating.

ray_patel2727d ago

Hold on though, a lightbox is a bit different from a grid system. A lightbox lets you trace exactly what's already there, but a grid forces you to break down proportions and angles yourself. You still have to make all the decisions about where the lines go relative to the grid squares. It's more like training wheels for your brain than a crutch like tracing.