Gridlock!

“Gridlock” is apparently a computer game where you try to outwit opponents as you maneuver your way through a grid of some sort. And then, of course, there’s “gridlock” as is so often seen in government. Neither of these are the sort of “gridlock” I’m talking about here.

Grids, in themselves, are useful devices for many things, including art. If you browse around the website here, you’ll come to a post about using grids as a drawing aid. Well, no need to browse. I’ll just give you the link: Drawing Techniques – Grids

In that post I mentioned a lesson at The Virtual Instructor. It’s from “The Secrets of Drawing”, the course I’ve been reviewing. In the lesson, the instructor draws a magnificent gorilla using the grid technique, and, of course, making it all look like a very simple process.

Well, for me, it’s not a simple process. Being clumsy and akward means I struggle with tools, and that includes rulers. I quite literally can’t draw a straight line with a ruler, so marking off gridlines becomes quite a challenge.

Oh, but what about computers? What about all those awesome graphics programs?

For most people, a graphics program is probably a good solution. In the video, the instructor does demonstrate how easy it is to use Photo Shop to print out a reference photo with a grid super-imposed over it. One then has only to create a duplicate grid on the drawing surface and patiently transfer the visual information from one to the other, carefully drawing what is shown in each corresponding square.

Yes, it sounds simple enough, and again, for most people, it probably is. For me, however, the process became an ordeal lasting several hours. I don’t have Photo Shop, but I downloaded GIMP 2.0, a free graphics program I’ve successfully used in the past. I noticed this morning that GIMP 3.0 was released on February 10, but I’m not going to upgrade.

I previously had GIMP (not sure what version) on the office computer that has since been retired. In the past, I did use it — in a very limited way — but this time around, I really struggled. I don’t know if GIMP has changed or if I’ve just forgotten how to use it, but I spent hours and hours trying to upload a photo, convert it to grayscale, and print it out with a grid of one-inch squares. Even after all that time, I wasn’t able to complete the task.

Oh, well. I tried. I really gave it my best shot.

Now, let me back up a bit with the story. As I mentioned, the lesson includes a reference photo for a gorilla. A magnificent creature, to be sure, but one that I felt was far above my “beginner abilities” when I first took this course back in 2015.

This time around, to be honest, this gorilla was even more intimidating! Right now, between family concerns, the heartbreak of losing one of our cats, and medical concerns for both my husband and myself, the last thing I need is anything to add more stress. I need to make things as easy for myself as possible. I need to give myself opportunities to succeed and to feel good about what I am able to accomplish. Attempting to draw this gorilla — with or without a grid — was out of the question.

Instead, I turned to a favorite subject — our cats. In 2015, back before we had adopted any feline friends, I did use a grid system to draw a cat. It was challenging, but I was pleased with the result. Cats are actually quite difficult for me to draw, but my first thought was that I would try to use a grid system for a graphite drawing of Buddy Boy, the cat we recently lost.

Of course, I quickly realized that doing this would break my heart. I miss our Buddy Boy so much. We’re still praying that someone has him and that he’ll eventually be returned to us. I’ll never give up that hope!

But for the purposes of doing a “grid” drawing, I chose another photo, one of our feisty calico, Flower Child. Using GIMP, my plan was — as I’ve done in the past — to upload her photo, convert it to grayscale, configure a grid of one-inch squares, super-impose the grid, and download the image to use as my reference.

It didn’t happen. I won’t recount all the hassle I went through, but in the end, all I managed to do was to successfully convert the image to grayscale, and I did re-size the photo to 5″ x 8″ to match the approximate dimensions of my sketchbook page. I could not, however, manage to even print the photo out with the grid visible, even though I had “Show Grid” checked.

But, refusing to be deterred, I did finally manage to use a ruler and a white gel pen to put a rather lop-sided grid of squares over the photo. I then used a very hard (4H) pencil to create a grid on my sketchbook page.

I continued using the 4H pencil to draw the basic contours. I have a tendency to be very “heavy-handed” when drawing. It’s one of my weaknesses. So, to compensate — both in creating the grid and establishing the basic contours — I went with the hardest/lightest pencil in my drawing set.

It’s difficult to really see what I’ve done here, but actually, I’m off to a fairly good start, I think.

One thing that is emphasized in this “Secrets to Drawing” course is the need for patience. Good graphite drawings require time, and in some respects the reference photo I used is going to present a few challenges with the background. I’ll probably focus only on Flower Child for now and see if I can — with graphite — create a sense of the varying values in her fur.

After all the hours of frustration and “gridlock” — spending time and getting very little done — I do feel like I’ve created a good “base drawing” of Flower Child. When I showed it to my husband, he even recognized her, so that made me feel better.

In every lesson module of the Secrets to Drawing course, the instructor ends by asking “What Did We Learn?” What I learned is that while I’ll never be good with rulers and while I’ll always struggle with photo-editing programs, I can manage to create and use a grid as a drawing technique. I learned that grids are helpful. And, of course, I’ve learned that patience is definitely needed when creating art.

I’ll continue working on my graphite drawing of Flower Child. Wish me luck!