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Every time I think I have read every post here I keep finding a new one.
Well, I have to say that when I want a dead on likeness I grid. I can't say that it is a time saving method compared to drawing freehand, but I am not faced with nasty surprises half way into the process.
One thing that working with a grid has taught me is to see everything in abstract shapes. As the shapes kept falling into place (sort of like a puzzle), it became necessary to learn the value relationship between each shape. This alone has been a god send, because I have always struggled with value relationships.
I love to draw and my sketchbook is full with images of people with noses too long, chins too full and god knows what other errors. But the purpose of the sketchbook is just for quick observations and to get something down in the shortest amount of time. This allows for a certain freedom of hand eye coordinations, which gets better over time. As a matter of fact I just recently discovered an old sketchbook and had to laugh pretty hard at what I was seeing. Just about everyone in it has some malformation and looked more like creatures out of horror movies. But imagine how satisfied I was to actually be able to see the growth from one book to another. So I agree with Karin, using shortcut tools like tracing can help you grow as an artist, as long as you balance it with free hand drawing as well.
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