Drawing is the act of making a design or image, using line or tone, on any suitable surface. The design or image itself is also called a drawing. Drawings can be made for artistic or technical purposes. This article discusses drawing as a fine art. For information on technical drawing, see Mechanical drawing.
Purposes.
Artists create drawings for a variety of purposes. Many artists make preliminary drawings to help them develop the composition of a painting or sculpture. They also produce drawings as finished works of art. Artists may use drawings to record information for future use. For example, an artist may draw a detailed sketch of a tree and refer to the drawing later when incorporating the tree into a painting. Art students draw figures and objects to gain skill with line and form.
Materials and techniques.
Artists draw with chalk, charcoal, crayon, or pencil. They may use a liquid, such as ink, applied with a brush or pen. Artists also scratch drawings into a surface. For example, a silverpoint drawing is made by scratching into specially coated paper with a silver instrument or silver wire.
Manufacturers produce chalk and ink in a wide range of colors. Brushes, pencils, and pens are made in a variety of widths to create different kinds of lines. Artists can add tone to a drawing by applying a thin layer of liquid color called a wash. They also may combine several materials and techniques in one drawing.
Almost any surface can be used for a drawing. Prehistoric people drew on clay and stone, and the ancient Chinese used silk cloth. In the Middle Ages, many artists drew on parchment. Since the 1400’s, paper has been the most popular surface because it is inexpensive and easy to carry. Drawing paper is made in many colors and textures, and in various degrees of absorbency.
History.
People have made drawings since prehistoric times. This art form first gained popularity among European artists during the 1400’s, when paper became generally available. Since then, each century has produced artists who have created great drawings.
Masters of drawing in the 1400’s and 1500’s included Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, Michelangelo, and Raphael. During the 1600’s, Claude, Nicolas Poussin, Rembrandt, and Peter Paul Rubens created important drawings. In the 1700’s, great drawings were produced by Jean Honoré Fragonard, Francisco Goya, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and Antoine Watteau. The masters of drawing during the 1800’s included Paul Cezanne, Jacques Louis David, Edgar Degas, Theodore Gericault, Jean Ingres, Odilon Redon, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Vincent van Gogh. Great drawings in the 1900’s were created by Max Beckmann, Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Edward Hopper, Paul Klee, Oscar Kokoschka, Kathe Kollwitz, Henri Matisse, Jules Pascin, and Pablo Picasso.
