The technique of hand sketching visual images into the squares of a matrix

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Transferring an image by laying a grid of equal squares over the reference and your drawing surface is grid drawing. The idea is to simplify a complex image into smaller, more manageable parts, so you can focus on proportion and placement square by square rather than trying to copy the whole scene at once. By drawing the grid first and then reproducing what’s in each square into the corresponding square on your paper, you keep the overall scale and relationships accurate across the whole composition.

This approach is especially helpful for maintaining correct relationships between features and edges, and it trains your eye to measure and compare parts of the image. Some people refer to the grid as window panes, since the grid resembles a window, but the standard term for the technique is grid drawing. The other terms listed are broader or refer to different methods and don’t specifically describe the square-by-square transfer process.