Teach the grid. Print the handout.
Teachers and workshop leaders reach Grid Maker Pro because it does three classroom jobs at once. Project a construction or composition overlay so the whole room reads the same diagram. Print a class set of identical grid handouts in one PDF. And run a ready-made lesson — objectives, timed sequence, rubric — that already maps to the free overlay your students open in any browser. No signup. No per-seat licence. No image ever leaves a student's device.
Four overlays that carry a syllabus.
A foundation course returns to the same four ideas. The grid method teaches accurate observation. The rule of thirds teaches composition fast enough for a single critique. The Loomis head gives beginners a repeatable way into the human face. One- and two-point perspective open space on the page. Each projects cleanly to a class and prints to a handout.
Grid method
Square grid for accurate observational transfer. The first drawing lesson. Open the drawing grid maker.
Rule of thirds
Composition a class can grasp in one session. Pairs with a photo critique. Open the rule of thirds tool.
Loomis head
A repeatable ball-and-plane scaffold for the human head. Demystifies the face. Open the Loomis head tool.
1- & 2-point perspective
Vanishing points and a horizon line. Opens depth on a flat page. Open the perspective grid tool.
A lesson in four moves.
Every lesson plan follows the same teachable arc: a clear objective, a projected demonstration, supported student work on a printed or on-screen grid, and an assessment against a short rubric. The overlay does the heavy lifting so the teacher can circulate and the students can see exactly what success looks like.
Pick the lesson plan
Each lists objectives, materials, a timed sequence, and an assessment rubric. Print it or open it on the board.
Project and print
Show the overlay on the board for the demo; hand out a printed class set of identical grids.
Students work on the grid
They build the drawing or composition cell by cell. The grid keeps proportion honest so they focus on seeing.
Assess against the rubric
A short, shared rubric per lesson. Students know what success looks like before they start.
Open a lesson, teach it tomorrow.
From a full grid method drawing lesson for still life observation to a rule of thirds lesson plan for a photography class, each plan pairs a projectable overlay with printable grid drawing worksheets and a shared assessment rubric — so a class set is one print job and the activity is ready as a class handout or an art sub plan.
Grid method for still life
Accurate observational drawing with the lowest barrier to entry.
Rule of thirds basics
Photographic composition a class can apply in one session.
Grid-method portrait
Transfer a portrait reference accurately before rendering.
1- & 2-point perspective
Vanishing points and the horizon line on a worked page.
Loomis head construction
The ball-and-plane head method, broken down for the room.
Five-value grisaille
Value studies that build tonal control before colour.
Gesture warm-ups
Line-of-action exercises to loosen a class at the start.
Eight-head figure canon
The proportional canon of the standing figure, step by step.
What teachers actually use it for.
I project the rule of thirds over a photograph and the whole class sees the same thing at the same moment. Then I print thirty grid sheets for the still-life unit. No logins to manage, no licence to chase through the IT office — it just opens in a browser, which for a state school is the whole game.
My Saturday adults are nervous about drawing the face. The Loomis lesson, projected step by step, takes the fear out — they all build the same ball-and-plane head together. I hand out the printed construction sheet and by week three they are starting from the structure without me.
For mixed ages I need a lesson with a rubric I can trust. The grid-method still-life plan gives my eight-year-old and my fourteen-year-old the same scaffold at different difficulty, and the proportion is guaranteed for both. Free matters when you are teaching four kids on one income.
The questions teachers ask.
Can I print grid handouts for a whole class?
Yes. Every overlay exports as a PDF at US Letter or A4, and you can set the cell dimension precisely, so a class set of identical grid handouts is one print job. Print 30 copies of a 1-inch square grid for a grid-method exercise, or a rule-of-thirds sheet for a photography critique. There is no watermark and no per-page limit.
Is it really free for a whole classroom?
Yes — free forever, no signup, no account, and no per-seat licence. Students open the tool in any browser without creating an account, and nothing they upload leaves their device, which keeps the activity inside school privacy rules. There is no paid tier on the core tool, so a class of thirty costs the same as a class of one: nothing.
Which lesson should I start with?
For a first art lesson, the grid method for still life teaches accurate observation with the lowest barrier. For photography, rule-of-thirds basics gets a class composing in one session. Each lesson plan lists objectives, materials, a timed sequence, and an assessment rubric, and every one uses a free overlay students can open in the browser. Browse the full set on the lesson plans index.
Does the grid method work as an art sub plan?
It does. The grid method is well suited to a substitute lesson because the printable grid drawing worksheets are self-explanatory: a student lines up the printed grid against a still-life observation and transfers cell by cell, so the work continues even when the regular teacher is away. Print a class set, leave the one-page grid method for still life plan with its objectives and assessment rubric, and a cover teacher can run it without prior drawing experience.
Can I give a grid drawing handout for different skill levels?
Yes. Because you set the cell dimension before you print, the same activity scales: a coarse grid with larger cells suits beginners, while a finer grid asks more of advanced students on the same reference. That lets one grid drawing worksheet cover a mixed-ability room — beginner, intermediate, and advanced — from a single PDF at US Letter or A4.
A whole syllabus of grids, free for the room.
Project the overlay, print the class set, run the lesson. No signup, no per-seat licence, and nothing a student uploads ever leaves their device. The barrier to a great art lesson should not be a purchase order.
Browse the lesson plans →References
- Edwards, Betty. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Tarcher/Perigee (4th ed., 2012). ISBN 978-1-58542-920-2. On observational drawing and the grid as a teaching aid.
- Eisner, Elliot W. The Arts and the Creation of Mind. Yale University Press (2002). ISBN 978-0-300-10511-5. On art education and visual thinking.
- Dow, Arthur Wesley. Composition. Doubleday (1899). The classic art-education text on structured composition teaching.