Using an Art Projector

We had a great question come in from Gary via our Facebook Page which we wanted to share with you all:

I have never had an experience with the pastel medium, but because of you, I'm going to try it. I know the sketch is KEY, what is your opinion of art projectors? Have any experience using them? This is the piece I'm working on now. Under painted the dark tones with gesso, and then next step is color oil.

I am not opposed to any form of drawing aid if the artist is not confident enough to draw accurately free hand. Most of my work deals with animals and human portraits and I use my own Square Drawing method for them, this allows me to see the proportions and draw them out very accurately. This method still requires the artist to draw the outlines but by using the grid they are more likely to produce a better proportioned result.I have never used an art projector but I understand they do work well, my only reservation with this method is the artist does not develop any drawing skills as they are simply drawing round the projected image. With the Square Drawing system they are able to see how the proportions of the subject come together and in fact can use their own adjustments to the line drawing if they wish as they go along.I hope that helps, if you've used an art projector let us know your experiences in the comment section below. For a quick demonstration on Square Drawing see our video below: