Methods for getting your initial drawing onto your paper or canvas.
Tracing methods:
You can use graphite pencil on the back of your paper,
then place your paper on the canvas or paper and trace over the lines. This will not work well if your background
paper or canvas is a dark color. You can purchase “Saral” brand wax free
transfer paper at a crafts store. Locally this is available at AC Moore in the Mall
of NH. They have rolls with gray, but
also a small paper sampler pack with 1 each of white, graphite (gray), yellow,
blue and red. I tested out the white
this week on a dark green background I had on my canvas and it worked
well. If you need to buy a full roll,
these color papers are available online. I found this easily at
www.dickblick.com. The direct link:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/saral-wax-free-transfer-paper/
As you can see from the photo below, the regular graphite
(gray) does not show up well on a colored background.
As mentioned in the arttutor.com blog,
https://www.arttutor.com/blog/201407/copying-reference-photo,
your photo or original needs to be the same size as your canvas for this to
work. To increase or decrease the size,
you still need to prepare a grid. It is
easiest if you use a 1” to 2” ratio, or 1” to 3”. Many of these prepared grids are available at
art stores. To make an unusual size, say
¾” to 1” or 2”, you will need to draw your own grid. This is actually quite easy, but
tedious. You can prepare a grid with a
marker pen on tracing paper, place it over your photo or drawing. Then mark off
your canvas in the correct ratio and draw onto it. If your initial photo or
drawing is larger than the standard size paper, you will probably have to tape
two sheets together to make a larger grid. If you plan on using this grid
several times, you might want to buy a heavier grade of tracing paper.
I would suggest not following the exact pattern unless
you are trying to be very realistic. Use your own artistic vision and just get
the basic shapes on the canvas with grid or tracing paper. Fill in the shapes
with your own technique and make the image your own.
Thanks to Eileen Belanger, we have sold three of the
boxes that were painted by our artists for our fall fundraiser. I will be picking up the rest next week and
they will be available for purchase at my studio. I will also have them at my table when I do
craft fairs in November and December.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to purchase a box.
lhfeinberg@myfairpoint.net
Linda Feinberg, Treasurer, Artist and Blogger
