...to the control of the grid.

Slicing photos into boxes and using those rows of squares to proportion your work is useless. Photographs will take you only so far. Let them go. Take those pictures for reference but be prepared to change them in the final piece. After the sketch, don't ever look at them again. It'll take you far. I promise.

I tried gridding once. Just for kicks. It was a stupid thing to do, because I'd always managed just fine without it (granted, I'd never tried it before because I was a prideful little wench and I considered myself above the juvenile concept of a grid, but still). It messed everything up. The piece was terrible.

I haven't even considered grids ever since, and the quality of the work I produce is several levels higher. I feel better at the end of the piece, and I improve with every one I finish.

Seriously. Trust me.
Don't grid.

[/rant]