How do you get from photo to canvas?

[Mike McCarty]

I have done some very complex drawings in this fashion, including hands and difficult perspective renderings.

One thing that helps me a great deal in this regard is the ruler that I use. It is a 16 inch ruler measured in tenths of an inch. Along with each tenth being indicated with numbers up to 160. I will typically measure to within a half (20th of an inch) of the indicated marks.

I will also create a spread sheet with the calculations to the scale I am working on with a precision to a twentieth of an inch. So as I make my measurement on the photo, I can glance over at my printed spread sheet and quickly get the translated equivilent. If I'm working from an 8x10 to a 16x20 I can do the math in my head but if I am going up by 2.37, well, my mind just isn't that quick.

Within an hour or so I can complete a drawing and be very confident of the accuracy. But, as mentioned above, the drawing gets screwed up, and this is where this method comes in handy. You can be as bold as you want with your paint onto the original drawing knowing that you can get back to any point with confidence.