Is The Grid Method KILLING your Oil Painting?

Such a good video, I love it ☺☺☺

Wow that was impressive, seeing the live model after

Great video Chelsea. -- You should come join us on Tuesday nights at Alia Fine Art Studio in Raleigh. Alia hosts a 3hr (single pose) life drawing group every week.

I spent many years drawing live models (1000) . Lately I've watched all of the portrait artists of the year from London. It surprised me how many used grids. I've tried it painting children and young kids and I have to say it helped with placement.
I prefer just to start painting . If I've had any criticism through the years is that I was not lose enough.
Anyway it is more fun just to start painting.

This is wonderful. This is the video I needed this morning! I used to start every painting when I was about 12-16 without a grid- but then I had many teachers who preferred them. I feel like I forgot my drawing skills along the way. I have never heard of the envelope method thank you. I do use a properly cropped reference and now I’m trying to keep it farther away like you suggested in the past. I have not posted any recent work here the last year since I’ve been on this journey to improve my skills. I have done more drawings than painting this year and it’s been helpful in shaping up!

Proportion wheel

Artwork that is not loose, is not “overworked”. I find that artists often use this term for tight, highly-rendered artworks/drawings/portraits, but it is simply derogatory. The opposite of a loose painting (which is not the apex of artistic achievement, says who?) is not an “overworked” painting. Loose painting is preferential, just as tight and hyperrealistic paintings are preferential. Stop discouraging artists from exploring different styles and techniques, by using derogatory language. One isn’t better than the other, just different.

Totally agree Chelsea 👍 the best things I did which helped my painting was regular pencil sketching/drawing and buying a proportional divider, although it was handy to grid when I started painting when i wasnt confident in drawing ,I did find with gridding I tended to trust in it too much and expected very accurate likeness which wasn't the case in almost all.

The grid method is sooo good when you're working on a huge canvas/wall and you have a detailed piece especially if it has a difficult perspective and many figures. But absolutely of no use when one tries to catch a likeliness of a portrait. Even if you're not painting loosely. Learned this the hard way tbh... Struggled for a few years and just like you said, it all comes down to your drawing skills and confidence.

Painting from life is where you truly excel! Would love to see this same video with voiceover of what you were thinking and what decisions you you were making as you painted. Also love that it is a man instead of a pretty young woman. Already too many of those out there.

Refused to use projector or grid from day one of learning portrait painting, instead learn from my mistakes.

A wonderful video full of good advice thank you!

Norman Rockwell used a projector and grids. It saved him time with the basic layout of the painting. The looseness or tightness develops after that point.

Thank you very much, Chelsea. Your advice is always so helpful❤

This makes so much sense.

Thank for your wonderful videos. I cannot see the photoshop video here?

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I ve never used the griding method but often the drawing look very rigid
I paint flowers alot and this is something I ve noticed