How I Used a Grid to Draw for Oil Painting

There are various ways to start an oil painting and an artist should discover their own preferred way of working through trying different methods. What works for one artist may not fit with another. In one of my previous posts I mentioned that I prefer to sketch out my subject matter directly onto the canvas using the paint and block it out with some colour in the first stages. It's a way I prefer after trying out different techniques, however for one painting I tried using a grid to draw out my subject matter and to see if this was a way to start future oil paintings.

I mostly work from photograph to create my floral pieces, as my paintings take quite a long time to achieve and it would be impossible to work from life. I have been photographing flowers for my paintings for a number of years now and have a good bank of images I like to work from, most of them taken at the Botanical Gardens here in Sheffield. I do not usually work from just one image and like to create my own composition from more than one, which I use an instinctive approach to as I am working on the piece. This is an integral part of my artistic process as it allows for freedom which I feel to be important in my work. My painting style doesn't really show that this is the case and appears quite tight, however there is more creativity involved in my work! I tend not to work from edge to edge of a reference image to copy it exactly and can often start in the middle of a flower and just allow it to “grow” out onto the canvas. I also allow the painting to dictate what needs doing next.

As a change from my usual way of working, I decided to try using a grid to create the image. My aim for this was to do the opposite to what I normally would do, which proved to be an interesting exercise! I wanted to adhere to my reference photo as much as possible and yet I still ended up improvising! Here is the photo taken at the Botanical Gardens:

I'm sure that there is much discussion regarding the use of projectors and drawing aids for starting paintings. I myself have never used anything like that. However, frankly I find it would be almost impossible for an artist to create a very large scale piece without using such an aid to scale up and achieve accuracy.

When I was at school this was a method we covered in a lesson and I struggled so much that I ended up re-doing the piece free hand and it was better than the one I used a grid for. This told me that it just didn't suit me and I often tell my students that some people work really well using the grid method and some people don't! We're just all different. Why I decided to use a grid then ought to tell you just how much I wanted to challenge myself. I found it to be incredibly challenging! I've managed to achieve it, but in the time it took me to draw the whole thing out I would have usually sketched out and blocked in a first layer of paint using my usual method!

One week later and I was still working on the first layer of paint on my pink roses painting! I included a lot of detail and information in the first layer which helped when applying the next few layers.

The first layer is mostly about tonal values to give me enough information as to where light and shade need to be in the next layer. This helps with the composition and the structure of the flowers and individual petals. The sessions that followed this were all about layers.

Here is a detail of the rose buds at the top of the painting now complete. The finished result has had four layers of paint, which is not always necessary for me but in this case helped me to achieve the desired effect.

This is the finished pink roses painting which I have entitled "Pink Rose Adagio".

Using the grid helped me to focus on specific areas very carefully and achieve a level of realism I am satisfied with. It enabled accuracy and I recommend using one to anyone who wishes to work in a structured way and achieve accuracy. The grid gave me more focus and control, however I still found that I strayed and improvised in some areas. This is not a problem as it simply indicates how I use my artistic license where I need to. I would recommend using a grid for scaling up, however it's not ideal for those wishing to create something loose and free. A grid can be used for any painting and drawing media and worth having a go at if you've not tried it before.

If I was to use a grid again I would consider modifying the process a little: I have thoughts on using a mid/dark ground and marking the grid out in white, as the grid lines in graphite are visible after the first layer of paint in light coloured areas and will need a few more layers than usual. Graphite for drawing out however is a definite no-no for me! At first I found it to be useful for the dark tones of the painting, but in some areas it muddied the paint. This was very irritating and I eventually used fixative to stop it from shifting, which worked but I do not recommend it and will not be doing it again! 

I set out to work in an unusual way for me and through it I gained a lot more insight into not only the various ways an oil painting can be started, but what works best for me and tweaking my usual way of working to get the best out of what I do and hope to achieve.

Just one tip: think about your image and drawing/painting support being the same format, i.e. square image, square canvas, as it makes it easier, therefore adjust your image to your support accordingly and they both need to have the same amount of squares. For example, if your image has 9 squares, your canvas or paper should have 9 squares also. Perhaps that is stating the obvious! Another way is to simply divide your image and support into quarters as this can also help the eye to focus on specific areas.

I hope that reading this blog about how I used a structured method for creating an oil painting has been helpful, thanks for reading!