Drawing on Procreate: Achieve Perfect Proportions Using the Grid Method

1. Introduction: Hi, I'm Alicia and I'm an artist based in London. I moved here several years ago from Italy to pursue my dream of becoming an artist and here I am today talking to you about drawing. My work varies a lot. It's mainly acrylic painting but I also use printmaking, digital work, photography, and film. When I started, my focus was, like many other people, was on drawing and drawing was my first love. I used to copy from magazines. I used to draw from references and try to match the color and do the perfect portrait. I now just struggle with proportions alongside very long sessions of drawing and erasing and do it all over again and trying to achieve the perfect proportions. I know that can be very difficult, especially if you're a beginner. So today I want to share some tips and the method is going to make drawing from picture very easy and enjoyable. Before we start, I want to make sure that you were drawing is not just about talent, it's about practicing and putting in place the right steps to achieve your result, which can be anything and I'm talking about drawing, but if it could be painting or collage, anything you want. But today we're going to focus on the create method and in particular on iPad Pro. 2. Your Class Project: In your class project, you're going to create a drawing or picture of your choice, drawing from a reference. It can be anything, and especially if you're a beginner, I suggest you would start with some fruits or objects that you have around the house. I personally love doing still-life with lemons and oranges, and it's very simple forms they can put onto paper or in this case onto the iPad with very easy strokes. The grid method is something I learned many years ago and I used to find it very boring and overwhelming in school, but it doesn't have to be. The concept is very simple and if you ever played battleship, you're going to know exactly what I'm talking about. You're going to draw a very simple and easy grid on top of your existing picture, digitally in this case. We'll use the intersections of the lines to have reference points to know where to place the elements of a drawing. It is so easy that it's going to take your portion of the time that would normally take you to draw from a reference, especially if you're drawing from a screen. Your drawing will be way more accurate too and I'll show you how it works in a minute. 3. Starting with Procreate: If you don't have Procreate, download it from the App Store and open it. We're going to create a new canvas. The size and resolution are going to determine how many layers we can work with. The bigger the canvas, the fewer layers you're going to have. We have two options. We can use a rectangular canvas so that the reference image is next to our drawing. In this case, I usually have a canvas of 8,000 by 4,000 with 12 layers available, or we can build a grid on a big square image and send it to an additional screen, such as your laptop so that we can work on a bigger surface on the iPad. I'm going to show you both options in the next videos, but for now let's get familiar with Procreate and it's tools. Once you create the Canvas, let's have a look at the Layers tab. These are the building blocks of your final image and they're built on top of each other. You can change the transparency as well, but I usually start changing the background color so they're otherwise can really show up when I paint with bright colors. Then you have all the brushes and pencils with infinite combinations and customizations options and you can choose whatever you like for this project. Now that I've selected the brush, let's have a look at the interface. On the left-hand side, there are two sidebars: the top one controls the brush size and the bottom one controls the capacity of the stroke. Creating a new layer, you're going to be on top of layer one, so whatever you draw here, it's going to hide the layer underneath. You can change the opacity so that you can see both or you can inverse the positions of the layers. Now that you know the basics, we can start building our grid. 4. Creating the Grid - Option 1: First, I'm going to show you how to build a grid on a separate canvas. Create a 4,000 by 4,000 pixels new canvas and click on the Actions tab on the top left corner. Click on Add, Insert a photo and choose your reference picture. If you didn't shoot the picture with your iPad, make sure you send the file over first. Now, you see my picture can be transformed, so I adjust exactly where I want it. Then we create a new layer, and here we're going to build our grid. Then go back to on the Action tab, click on Canvas, switch on the drawing guide, and edit drawing guide. You can change the size of the grid, but you can change the color as well with the bar on the top. I would suggest starting with big squares. Now, let's put numbers and letters to identify lines and squares. Make sure you're on Layer 2, pick a color and a pen of your choice, and write the characters defining the square you're going to work with, excluding anything you don't want to draw. Once you're done, click on Layer 2 and rename it Grid, and it's going to be easier to know which layer is which. Now, create a layer between Layer 1 and Grid and screenshot your image. That's the image that we're going to use as a reference. Layer 2 is the one one you're going to draw. You can rename it drawing if you like, and when you're ready, you can send the screenshot to the device of your choice, for example a laptop, and we're going to look at the screen to copy our reference from whilst we're drawing on our iPad. Now, you can delete the image layer and you can start to draw. 5. Creating the Grid - Option 2: If you want the reference image on your iPad next to your drawing, create an 8,000 by 4,000 pixel grid and insert your photo on one side of it. Create a second layer and activate the drawing guide from the actions tab. Edit the grid as you like and insert letters and numbers to identify lines and columns. Then do the same next to it. We're going to define a square and that's the portion where we're going to draw. I always prefer to rename this layer as grid, so that I don't get confused and draw anything else on it. We're ready to start drawing on our layer. I like to paint a little square that is going to be the background of my drawing. But it can also delete the layer in the end. It's completely up to you, if you want to skip this. Now that we have everything we need, we can get started drawing our cherries. 6. How to Use the Grid: Before we start, let's have a look at the way we can use the grid to improve our drawing. The lines and the columns are going to help us positioning our marks in space. In this instance, we have the top of our cherries stem at the crossing A4 and the right edge of the right cherry at around 2/3 of the line, D5, D6. Another useful thing to do is to observe the space around and in-between things, otherwise known as negative space. This could be the space within the two stems, but also the empty space between the cherry and the square containing part of it. You don't have to draw any of these lines. It's going to become something that your mind would do automatically after some practice. Squares help us with halves as well or a half of a half. It just makes it easier to see proportions, therefore making us more confident when we draw our elements. Remember, you can always change and delete things or adjust lines working on a new layer as many times as you like until you have the final drawing you're happy with. 7. Start Drawing: The grid is ready, the image is in front of us. Finally, we're ready to later create itself come through with our mark making. Everyone is different, and so is their drawing style. Just try to be present and enjoy the process. It doesn't matter how precise you are, you can still change things later. Use the grid to guide your hand, and don't be afraid of making mistakes. The more relax and confident you are, the fresher the sketch is going to be. Your hand should be loose at this stage. Remember, this is a digital painting, so you can always create a new layer and draw on top of the previous one, getting closer and closer to the right proportions. I usually look at the crossing between lines and columns, but also at the space around it. Observe how the cherry on the right has this curve on top, going up from stem, crossing the vertical line number 3, just below the crossing with line B. On the other side as well, it goes back down at about half of the square where the two cherry is large. When you're happy with simple shapes, you can make the layer more transparent. Then you can add a new layer on top where you're going to be a little more precise than before, and maybe correct some lines without having to erase it. Because you need layers of passage is higher than the one below, it's going to look darker. You know which layer you're drawing on right now. At this stage, you can add more details and adjust your marks. You can carry on like this, creating new layers until you're satisfied with the level of details and proportions. I usually create a new layer to add value. In other words, to sketch some of the shadows. I was just doing the same with highlights. It's just easier in case you want to change things later without affecting the rest of the drawing. Once you're happy with it, you can either leave it as black and white drawing, or you can add color. That's what we're going to do next. 8. Adding Colour: Adding color to your drawing can be the most challenging part. Using the grid, however, is so much easier to define the area filled with a particular shade of color. I like to select a tint and try it on the page first, maybe next to the reference image. Keep in mind that you can achieve a specific tone with layers of different shades. Everyone uses a different method so it's not just in digital painting, but also with real paint on canvas. There are so many techniques, and it's really up to you how you want to build defining color, that's exactly what makes your art unique. I think is easier to start with a basic tone and from there build on it. Having a base color is very useful, you can always add to it. If you find yourself stuck matching a tone, you can use an eye dropper tool. To activate it, hold the square between the two sides on the left, and click on the part of the drawing that you want to match at the same time, and this is going to pick exactly that tone. I think it's a very useful tool but ultimately, it's good to train your eyes to see the right color and choose it from the palette. It's trial and error and with time is going to get easier. We use the grid just as before to give us the coordinates that describe a portion of the space. Adding the white in the right spot is going to bring your work to life. Reflections and shadows are also one of the most powerful parts of a painting when it comes to a shiny surface. It really gives volume and makes it real. Carry on adding color, shadows, and highlights onto different layers until you're completely satisfied with it. Well done, you just completed your class project. Now, you can share it online or print it. 9. Export Your File: To export your file, delete your drawing guide first from the "Actions" tab. Then click on "Crop and Resize". Select whatever you want to include in your final work and think about the destination of this file. If you want to share it on Instagram, for instance, you could crop a square size or maybe you want to create a rectangular print so you can keep this in mind when you're doing these final steps. When you're ready, open the "Actions" tab once again, click "Share". I usually go for a JPEG file, but if you want to save the transparent background, you should go for a PNG, and you're all done, ready to share it. 10. Thank You For Watching: All right guys. Thank you so much for watching and drawing with me. I hope you enjoy this class. I'm looking forward to see your work shared here with this community. Please feel free to contact me to ask me any questions. See you in the next one.