How To Use Proportional Divider

How to use a proportional divider, how to use a proportional scale divider, how to get an accurate sketch, how to get accurate sketches, how to get better at drawing

This is a post for those of you that depict or pigment and observe it tricky to get a skillful sketch earlier you begin painting/adding colour. This is one of the areas I'd like to improve upon so I think this method is helping me get more accurate and highlights where I'm going wrong.

Here is the video that goes with this post in case you prefer to watch rather than read! :

Firstly I have to say that there are various other ways you can go a good sketch; Some of these include :

Trace through a light box drawing board or tracing paper
Use carbon paper (very carefully!) or some of the newer papers (such as Tracedown)
Costless hand drawing
Use the grid method
Various gadgets and apps you tin can get – which somehow don't entreatment to me

My free hand drawing is OK but I'one thousand not yet happy enough with my accuracy to produce good plenty likenesses in work where this is important e.g. portraits. I likewise tend to scale my piece of work up from the reference photograph ofttimes and so tracing isn't really going to work very easily and I find that the grid method doesn't help me improve my accurateness. So to help me improve and and to create accurate sketches I currently use a proportional divider in my fine art.

proportional divider, proportional scale divider, How to use a Proportional Divider in Art

Proportional Scale Divider – What is it?

So what is a proportional scale divider or proportional divider? Information technology's a trivial widget like to a compass. information technology has ii arms the same length which are joined. You lot utilize one end to measure out your reference photograph and the other finish to measure your target sketch. If the artillery are joined in the eye then both sides are equal in length meaning that when you seperate them out the distance betwixt the arms is the aforementioned at both ends. You can utilise this to exactly copy a reference photograph i.e. to the aforementioned calibration. If you movement where the join is then this can exist used for scaling up/downwards because the distance between one ready of artillery volition be shorter than the other side.

In that location are lots of different models on the market. I started off with a plastic cheapish one but I institute that it kept slipping and one side wasn't very accurate as the edges were blunt so not very useful for portaits!

I then bought a more expensive snazzy nautical i and I love this one – both sides are precipitous so very accurate and the centre bring together tightens up really well meaning it doesn't slip much. The only thing to scout with this model is that they can sometimes marker the paper and then yous have to be careful non to become little dot indents everywhere.

Proportional Scale Divider – How do you use information technology?

This is how I use ane – I'm not sure if there is a more 'correct' method but this works for me 🙂

I usually describe a horizontal and a vertical line across the eye on my reference photograph and my target sketch paper. This is so that the heart cross will act as a point of reference in both the reference photo and cartoon. I so use this cardinal bespeak to plot all the other points :

Draw a horizontal and vertical line across the centre of your target sketch paper

Next yous will need to move the join on your proportional divider to your requirements. If you are scaling 1:i then move it to the centre so that when yous open it the arms are the aforementioned distance away from each other on both sides. If yous are scaling up and so move the join on the arms forth so that the smaller end can accommodate your reference photo and the larger cease volition fit on your paper.

Next selection a signal on the reference photo (I normally start at a point on the horizontal line) that yous would like to mark. In this example I am marking the centre point of the newspaper where the two lines meet to the edge of the bees head which is on the horizontal line with the shorter terminate of my divider.

Next I plough my proportional divider over and mark the same point on my drawing newspaper (notice I'g scaling up to roughly double the size).

I and so do this a few more than times with the outline of my subject area forth the horizontal and vertical lines :

Then I showtime picking out reference points on my photo – in this example I started with the edge of the bees caput.

I and then measure out the distance up from the horizontal line and make a piffling marking (A) and then the altitude across from the vertical :

In this last step I depict my horizontal point at the same distance upwardly every bit (A) above.

I and so repeat this process on various points on the drawing.

The terminal bit is to join up all the little points to create an outline. If you are fairly confident then you will need fewer points. If yous are a beginner then its worth taking your fourth dimension and creating a lot of points close to each other.

And that is pretty much it. If you have a very complex cartoon then this process can take quite a long time. but for elementary drawings such as this bee it's a adequately quick process merely ways that you will become an authentic scaled up sketch!