Thanks! This is the best tutorial on the proportional divider I’ve seen. Thank you for taking the time to do this for us, Janet.

Oh my word! I've watched many many videos to the point of being cross-eyed, and I'm certainly none the wiser. One of them along the way even said get a proportional divider. I felt that well maybe I'm just not meant to draw portraits, but I really do want to, but I was frustrated. However, in the 25 minutes of your tutorial video it was aaahhha! Brilliant! I think I've finally found in your lesson the way that suits me, (sigh) oh thank you for sharing your method it is just brilliant, I know the video isn't new, but it has never crossed my search until now, thank you and a smidge of thanks to the mysteries of KZfaq. Cheers from Tasmania!

So meticulous and clear ly explained. Excellent! Thank you. Suzanne

Incredibly informative, I’m going to rewatch this and give it a try.

This + Betty Edwards = ★. Thank you!

Good teaching. Well done. Thank you.

Thank you for the video, my friend. It's very helpful information.

Agree with @valerieculp1266 This is by far the best explanation of using a proportional divider i've ever seen--now I know why I was still having issues getting correct proportions even using the divider. Thank you!

Fabulous video and instruction

I'm a beginner and this is a life saver! Thanks!

Thank you very much for this so helpful lesson, I learned a lot!

What a great video! Thank you x

Best tutorial with clear explanations ❤❤❤

Wonderful. Well explained right up to the minute detail.

Thank you so so mutch now I understand how to use it mutch better God bless you

This made sense. You have to close it then decide where you want the screw to be. And the short end vs the long end. Thanks. I had mine open and the ends would fall apart. I was going to throw it out. I would like to know what all the numbers etc on it mean

Thanks for the information ma'am I will surely try this method for portrait drawing.

This is amazing so many helpful tips thank you!

This is such an excellent video. Thx for patiently explaining and demonstrating how to use a proportional divider to draw a portrait, where accuracy can make such a difference. Use of painter’s tape looks interesting. I wonder if it works well for taping the edges when painting a watercolor.

This is a very good demenstrasion I'm going to do it. I feel saver Whit this one thanks a lot

Thanks for this.

Outstanding!

thank you granma

Thank you!

Excellent tutorial and very useful indeed - many thanks for posting!

Thanks for taking the mystery out of this gadget, best video on yhe subject,

Cant beat the grid block emnlargement method Janet --much quicker with app that puts a accurate grid on your d/loads fotos --very fast !

Very well explained and thanks for the time making video.ive just starting airbrushing. But am trying to learn to draw first lol.

Very wonderful information. But I have drew so many many pictures without all that explain that I would get lost in what the heck I’m doing. Lol besides measurements was not one of my best subjects in school. Lol. I know my self well enough to see that when I draw anything I’m definitely wanting to see if all my proportions are right or as close to accurate as I can get them give or take an inch or two is off in any direction. If it is I will try my best to concentrate harder to try to perfect it with the next drawing. With all due respect I really don’t have the patience and by the time I finish putting all those measurements on the paper I could have finish a portrait and it my work don’t look professional than I have no problem destroying it and training my eyes to see where I went wrong and to discipline myself to learn from my mistakes. Yes it’s very hard to do it that way but like they say I you learn from your mistakes in almost anything and everything in life. Personally I think it’s a wonderful lesson. Lol. But of course that’s strictly my own personal point of view.

Thank you. Your video is very helpful. I have purchased the Derwent divider, but am finding that the points are really not precise enough. I have looked at the other plastic ones but, after reading reviews, it seems that the lock does not hold reliably. The metal one that you are using appears to be sturdy and accurate. What is the brand of that one?

Loved the trick of tha taped ruler... i was using the protractor, but your way is faster

This is a great video! It's the first I've watched by you but I'll look for others as well. I use a proportional scale divider to start my projects, measuring only an item or two in the foreground, then I freehand the rest based on visual measurements out from that point. It's a good foundation tool.

How do you use it to reduce something? It doesn't reduce very far even when screw it put to long end

My greatest problem in my drawings is working harder is to keep my artwork exactly in the center of my artwork. I’m learning how to either tape a border around it, or to outline very lightly in pencil a very light and thin borders line around the whole picture and also how to learn to draw my artwork smaller I tend to draw my little to large for my paper. I’m learning from you mistakes.

It would have been easier at the part where you had the photo on top of your drawing paper To just mark the four points at the edge of the photo at the end of the lines Lift off the photo Then just join the dots to get your lines

Interesting. Do you like this better than a grid? Thanks for showing this in such detail. 🙂

Hi Janet , my question is how do you use a photo the size you have or maybe larger and you want to do a smaller version, like on a piece of paper such as a 5x4" sketchbook to practice different size papers for my child who is an artist and he's trying different ways to use proportions and in looking at different size sketchbooks and making sketches on them learning with Jehovah he told me to ask you only cause he wanted me to use some of the methods you have and others to teach what he has for them black indian in our family and I am a MONTESSORI MOM AND GRANDMOM and I am going to be using some of the ideas for art for my oldest children cause these educations were not available to blacks and so many of them are gifted and talented and my son in Elementary school was chasen by a teacher cause he didn't know how to make a picture she asked him to draw large and it upset him and I told him to wait and I would try to get him a teacher that was Montessori to tell him how to understand how Jehovah wanted him to learn from someone who asked Jehovah how to teach him and he told me to teach him the grid method first with a teacher , but I couldn't find anyone where I lived and we didn't have the internet and computers in the schools when he was going , but now he's grown and he is given help to see why history kept him from learning these things black..... My life was not given art in the schools at the level they can learn now and I appreicate seeing people wanting to teach the youth in the world black now and I funded an organization to help 3thru 17 years old to learn these things online .... I'm a prophet and I have had a journey in the world to help black , indian children the Montessori Method and Jehovah is going to bless those who help youth who were not given the talents they needed to use to help them heal ....

Can we also use a compass for accurate measurement

Is this tool just for front on portraits? I have grand children w lots of profile type views...

Theaoo is called ART GRID d/load it ---easy to use -brilliant grid over photo in minutes ---any size grid any colour !

If this method was good enough for the old masters, then is fine by me.

Does this help you learn to freehand?

Who is the girl from the picture ?

You could have taken your data points straight from the photo when it was in the middle of the blank sheet

Very convoluted...Better to just make triangle grids on the reference and on your paper.

siento lo que voy a decir, pero creo que hace mucho trabajo para sacar las proporciones. yo en lo personal haría la cuadrícula sobre la foto. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

You are correct Janet --your method does improve your freehand accuracy 0----you are very talented ---some need the grid as they are not too accurate free hand I can freehand easily-- painting for 50 yrs -but many amateurs need safety of squares ----

why not tracing, that s just complicated tracing steps.

I NEVER SEEN A GOOD PORTRAIT ARTIST THAT DID THESE TOO MUCH MEASUREMENTS THEY JUST GO START DRAWING IT AND THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO LEARN

Not a way to actually learn to draw. Huge waste of time like paint by number learn to paint. Why not draw something from life?

TOO MUCH EQUATIONS. THIS IS TOO TEDIOUS. I SAW A GOOD ARTIST HE NEVER TO THIS JUST START DRAWING IT AND HE DID IT ACCURATELE