How to Create the ACCURATE OUTLINES From a Reference Photo - For Any Sized Artworks!

If you're looking to create larger artworks but you're limited by your A4 printer size & are unsure of how to first put down the accurate outlines - this method will allow you to split your larger photo into A4 sections. Once all of those A4 images are printed & joined up to form your reference image, you can then transfer the outlines onto your paper, canvas or any surface you wish to create on!

Another great method for achieving accurate outlines for larger artworks is the grid method as you can upscale easily. The only issue is, surfaces such as Pastelmat & others can be unforgiving when it comes to erasing the grid lines. The grid method can also be very time consuming, I believe art should be about enjoying the process as much as possible. I often find drawing outlines to be a frustrating or boring task so I love this method as it allows me to get stuck into the drawing right away.

I hope this video can offer you an alternative method if you're ever out of options. Feel free to pause and play as you follow the steps & after a few times I'm sure it will become second nature.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments and I'll do my best to get back to you as soon as possible. If this video has helped you, I invite you to subscribe to my channel for more helpful content & I would very much appreciate if you could also like this video - it helps me out a tonne!

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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
1:29 Step 1: Measure paper width and height in cm's
1:39 Step 2: Make reference photo black & white
2:02 Step 3: Upload reference to imageresizer
2:14 Step 4: Crop your image to the exact paper cm ratio size
2:52 Step 5: Resize your image to the exact cm size & save
3:24 Step 6: Download image and convert to PDF same size as image
4:04 Step 7: Open PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader
4:14 Step 8: Print as poster using high quality settings
5:03 Step 9: Cut out each image and join them together with tape
7:43 Step 10: Draw over the lines with a fine liner on top of transfer paper

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[recreepy]

This painting is a true gem, a breathtaking display of

[DeeHopper]

I have to say this is the best how to tutorial I have seen, thanks so much

[linl]

Thanks, Shaymus. That's a great alternative to the grid method for getting an outline accurately and enabling focus on the detail freehand.

[VickiT-mrzf]

Thank you so much for posting this tutorial - a great alternative to the grid method for those of us wanting to create art larger than A4. Excellent step-by-step explanation.

[CharlotteBrookArt]

I have always struggled with getting the correct proportions and have used the grid method in the past but it takes WAY too long. I just tried out your method and it’s a life saver!!! Thank you for sharing

[bampidraws]

Amazing! Thank you. To save on printer ink, all the background can be removed using photo imaging apps like Paintshop Pro, Photoshop, Pixlr (FREE) to remove background and to bring the image down to lineart (in Pixlr) by using the Menu> Adjustment > Auto Black & White > Menu > Filter > Find Edges > Menu > Adjustment > Invert > Adjustment > Solarize Menu > Filter > Clarity if you only want the basic outline for proportion and accuracy. It's a great piece of software to achieve what you want, just play around with the settings as each photo is different. I hope this helps somewhat? I'd love to know your thoughts. Happy drawing.

[mireille-angeliqueboth]

I am so happy to have found your solution Shaymus, thanks so much!

[AlanPottinger-qw]

Thanks, Shaymus. As always, excellent help.

[Architectural]

Keep it up dude! You’re so talented! 😄

[micheleyoung]

Brilliant! Thank you so much!! You have a wonderful way of explaining things.

[hazimmusa]

Thanks for the great tips on image transfer, really annoying to set up A2 size tbh! I was about to get a mini projector instead (very pricey for a good one!), what are your opinion on that?

[darranthompson]

Great tutorial as always i appreciate the time and effort u put into your videos.

[carolynmacaluso]

Thank you. The website will be a game changer as, while I have the same process, getting it to print as tiles always seems to vary depending on the type of image, especially if I had to scan it from an original such as a photo of a person someone has given me. I also learned the hard way about using white instead of graphite. It was so bad that I had to paint over the lines with gouache and then continue with pastel over that. I am much more careful now! ( and that was before I learned about pastelmat!) Love your work and your videos. 😊

[killerkev]

Hi thanks for great video. Does anyone have my issue, anytime I go into Adobe and press print I don't get the same boxwith preferences. I just get basic page size and printer?

[donnam]

When I go over my subject with transfer paper (white) my pastel pencil does not like the white outline and will not blend correctly. not sure why at this stage, any insight would help a great deal. thanks Shay

[juul]

Wow, you make beautiful large paintings. But do you do your works made with pastels behind glass? Also those very large ones such as the deer) and do you also fix your pastel works?

[erwin]

It's just too easy nowadays 😉. I used to photograph my source image, develop the black and white film, modify my photographic enlarger so I could project the size I needed onto the floor, work out the time needed to expose the photographic paper using a strip of photographic paper and creating multiple exposures (I know this probably doesn't make sense - this is old school and a method I just worked out for myself), place numerous sheets of 10 x 8 (inch) photographic paper onto the floor, make the exposure, develop each sheet separately (or else they stick together and the photos don't work out properly), dry the paper once the image has been 'fixed', sit down at my disk and tape all of the photo sheets together (I used to tape the back so I could tape each piece solidly to the next - usually the cheapest tape I could find as it was usually the thinnest but browned within a few weeks); finally, my reference is ready.
This process was particularly tricky when using a reference for an airbrushed mural on a car!
I love how much simpler things are nowadays. Even that website where you can get all of the A4 pages set up; I used to calculate all of that in my head (I was a maths teacher "back in the day").
Sorry for the long post; back to 😀

[LadyFdB]

I think i really did something wrong... my paper where i want to draw on is 29, 5x40 cm. And i get 42 papers to print out. How can that be? Do you know what i may be did wrong ?

[GaryBonguit-nk]

Wow, what brand of transfer paper you are using?