Drawing Grid in Photoshop Elements

When drawing from photographs, I often make use of a drawing grid. When I copy my own sketches to a larger canvas I also find this the best way to go.

By drawing and not tracing, you keep training your eyes and improving your skills. Depending on the subject, sometimes a line through the middle and one across is enough to hold on to.

In Photoshop Elements it's easy to display different kinds of gridlines in the preferences window: Photoshop Elements -> Preferences -> Guides & Grid

You can switch the grid on and off from the view menu: View->Grid

To display a grid with a lines through the middle point and quarter points, select  Gridline every: 50 percent and Subdivisions: 2 

How To Make a Simple Reed Pen

I like experimenting with different drawing techniques and materials for inspiration. Making a reed pen is fun, here's a quick and simple way.

All you need is:
1. a few pieces of reed, some kinds of reed or bamboo work better than others, experiment.
2. a hobby knife
3. black ink

 

1. First cut the reed in a shape like this.

2. Square off the end.

3. Carefully cut the split.

That's all. There are more advanced ways to make a reed pen, but this works. It does help to soak the reed in water for a while before cutting.

I like the variation in line width you can achieve. Here's a drawing I made with a reed pen: