This is a question that is asked so often in professional, amateur circles.  Is it cheating?  What is cheating when it comes to producing art?  What are your thoughts? 

As an experienced art teacher and professional artist, I’ll put my opinions across and you can decide what you think!

To the right is a capture of the first stages of a portrait I recently completed using the grid method. I didn’t have to use the grid – my paintings are always from my memory and as such, I often don’t even draw in pencil first, I just apply paint from the start.

 So why did I use a grid for this?  The simple answer is that I wanted accuracy and tightness with my final presentation of the image.  This wasn’t designed to be a painterly interpretation, I wanted strength in line, shape and form. Somewhere between realism and impressionism.

This is the final painting.  You may not know the sitter but I can assure you that this is a true likeness.
So, is it cheating?  I see people on Portrait Artist of the Year who use grids and they are torn apart on social media. A few quotes I’ve seen on the official FaceBook group:
“No. The only way to cheat is to claim someone else’s work as your own’.
“Hans Holbein used grids.”
“You lose something using a grid, I’ve tried both – grid and no grid.  The no grid way has a spontinaiety that I prefer…”
“Not cheating as such I guess, but I think it goes against the concept of drawing from life…”
“Not at all.  The great masters utilised camera obscura and grids are commonplace.”
That’s a pretty diverse set of responses.