The reason I recommend using a proportional divider is that over time, it will to teach you to draw freehand. It will force you to see the world in simple proportion as an artist should. I have seen many of my students learn to draw after using a proportional divider for only a few paintings. Even those students who claimed they could not draw a "stick figure" beforehand.
What the proportional divider does is reduce a complicated three dimensional subject into simple points and angles, which I will demonstrate here with this still life I painted:
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In the image below I have plotted all the major points. I also drew a vertical line down the middle of all the symmetrical objects as well as a box around the elephant. There is nothing difficult about any of this, it is simple measuring and plotting of points directly from your subject (either from a photo or from life).
![](http://www.drawmixpaint.com/images/blog/elephant-points.jpg)
Next I have plotted my angles, also by using the proportional divider. These are just short straight lines that indicate the line's angle as it intersects a given point. I have also drawn in all the obvious straight lines.
![](http://www.drawmixpaint.com/images/blog/elephant-angles-with-background.jpg)
This is very helpful, as you can see in the image below. Notice how we can begin to see the shapes of the objects even with only a few points and angles drawn in.
![](http://www.drawmixpaint.com/images/blog/elephant-angles-no-background.png)
The last thing to do is to draw in all the easy curves. These are all the curved lines we can draw by using the points and angles as a guide.
![](http://www.drawmixpaint.com/images/blog/elephant-curves.png)
All that is left is to freehand in the remaining lines.
For more detailed instruction on drawing with a proportional divider, you can watch my free video: how to draw in proportion
— Mark Carder
my free videos: drawmixpaint.com
my free videos: drawmixpaint.com
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