Glossary: The technique of drawing

The most popular methods of drawing are with pencil, chalks, ink, charcoal and brush. Drawings are produced for 3 main reasons. 1. As a preliminary work on canvas or paper prior to the application of paint in the form of oil or watercolour.2. As an aide memoir or recollection of a scene to be recorded and worked into a future painting. 3. A work of art in its own right such as a portrait.

The first use of drawing is rarely scene as it is under paint although in watercolours it may be visible as an outline sketch. The Georgians and the Victorians used drawing extensively in their working up of watercolours. Sketching to record scenes is as old as art itself. Many artists are never without their sketch books producing hundreds of them during a lifetimes painting. These are often very personal and lacking in detail as they are capturing a fleeting image that has inspired the artist. I remember talking to the widow of Adrian Hill who made the first television programme on art in the 1950's and 60's (that dates me) called "Sketch club". He apparently never left the house without a drawing pad and pencil, and as he did not drive, he worked continuously while being driven. She described car journeys as "rather quiet". The last method is a drawing that is intended to be a finished work without any application of paint. The Old Masters often produced works on paper in pencil or chalks for their patrons who commissioned set piece paintings. These works are often more beautiful than the finished painting being both spontaneous and free in spirit. One of the great 20th C. artists Augustus John was a fine oil painter but a truly great draughtsman whose drawings far out ranked the rest of his output. His portrait drawings from the late 19th to the middle of the 20th C. are some of the finest works to have been produced in the last 100 years.