Copying pictures is useful because you can copy a drawing you did and try painting it in different ways. If one way doesn’t work then you still have your drawing to try again. It’s also important to be able to copy photos in case you can’t draw things from real life (but really you should draw from real life). Here are two ways to copy a picture:
- Tracing
- Using a grid
How to trace a drawing
- I got some tracing paper and a coloured pencil. It’s important to use a coloured pencil because it’s soft but doesn’t smudge.
- I traced aroung the owl with a coloured pencil.
- I turned the tracing paper over and drew aroung the owl outline with a 2H pencil. I used a 2H pencil because it is hard and it stays sharp.
Tracing is useful because it means you can trace your drawing and experiment with painting it in different ways. Some artists do this.
How to use a grid
- Decide on how big to make your picture
- Print the photograph out at the same size
- Draw a grid of thirds on your photograph so there will be nine equal squares. Use a black felt tip to draw the lines so they are easy to see.
- Do the same with your paper but use a light pencil, like an HB so that the lines don’t show too much.
- Cover all the photograph except one square. Draw this square in the same square on your paper. Notice where things enter and leave the square. When you finish that square, uncover the next square of the photograph. Keep all the other squares covered.
- Draw that square and carry on the same way until you have drawn all the squares.
- Uncover all the photograph and look at the whole picture. You may need to tweak some lines so the picture adds up.
