The drawing medium has been a popular and fundamental means of public expression throughout human history. The relative ease of availability of basic drawing instruments makes drawing more universal than most other media. Drawing is a visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, chalk, pastels, markers, stylus, or various metals such as silverpoint. An artist who practices or works in drawing may be referred to as a draftsman.
A small amount of material is released onto the two dimensional medium which leaves a visible mark—the process is similar to that of painting. The most common material for drawing is paper, although other materials such ascardboard, plastic, leather, canvas, or lumber may be used. Temporary drawings may be made on a blackboard or a whiteboard, or almost anything.
Drawing is a form of visual expression and is one of the major forms within the visual arts. There are a number of subcategories of drawing, including cartooning. Certain drawing methods or approaches, such as " doodling" may or may not be considered fine art. Likewise tracing (drawing on a thin piece of paper around the outline of preexisting shapes that show through this paper) is also not considered fine art, although it may be part of the artist's preparation.
The word 'drawing' is used as both a verb and a noun:
Drawing (verb) is the act of making marks on a surface so as to create an image, form or shape.
The produced image is also called a drawing (noun). A quick, unrefined drawing may be defined as a sketch.
Drawing is generally concerned with the marking of lines and areas of tone onto paper. Traditional drawings were monochrome, or at least had little colour while modern coloured-pencil drawings may approach or cross a boundary between drawing and painting. In Western terminology, however, drawing is distinct from painting despite that similar media are often employed in both tasks. Dry media, normally associated with drawing, such as chalk, may be used in pastel paintings. Drawing may be done with a liquid medium, applied with brushes or pens.
Drawing is also regularly employed in preparation for a painting.
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