6.1: Drawing

The term drawing describes both a visual object and an activity. At first glance, drawing appears to consist of making con- trasting marks on a flat surface. The term implies something more, however. One can “draw” water from a well or be “drawn” to a charismatic person. There is something in the word “draw” that is related to extracting or delineating, the “pulling out” of an essence. To draw an object is to observe its appearance and transfer that observation to a set of marks. Ancient cave painters truly “drew” the animals they saw around them based on their deep familiarity with their essential nature. (Figure 6.1.1) So in this context, drawing is a combination of observation and mark making.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Replication of Chauvet Cae Lion Wall. (Public Domain; by HTO via Wikimedia Commons)

Drawing is usually but not always done with monochromatic media, that is, with dry materials of a single color such as charcoal, conté crayon, metalpoint, or graphite. Color can be introduced using pastels. In addition to these dry materials, free-flowing ink can also be used to make drawings. These materials have been highly refined over centuries to serve specific artistic purposes.

Charcoal is made from wood or other organic material that has been burned in the absence of oxygen. This process leaves a relatively pure black carbon powder. Artists compress this dry powder, or pigment, with a binder, a sticky substance like pine resin or glue made from the collagen of animal hides, to make hand-held charcoal blocks of various strengths and degrees of hardness. This compressed charcoal is used to make very dark marks, usually on paper. Compressed charcoal is challenging to erase.

Charcoal also comes in a form called willow or vine charcoal. This form of drawing charcoal leaves a very light mark as it is simply burned twigs. It is generally used for impermanent sketches because it does not readily stick to paper or canvas and is easily erased. Both compressed and vine charcoal drawings are easily smudged and should be protected by a fixative that adheres the charcoal to the drawing surface and creates a barrier resistant to smudging.

Conté crayon is a hand-held drawing material similar to compressed charcoal. Conté crayons are sticks of graphite or charcoal combined with wax or clay that come in a variety of colors, from white to sanguine (deep red) to black, as well as a range of hardness. Harder conté is used for details and softer varieties for broad areas. This portrait by Georges-Pierre Seurat (1859-1891, France) was drawn in black conté crayon on textured paper in order to break the image into discrete marks. (Figure 6.1.2)

Figure 6.1.2: Edmond Aman-Jean. (Public Domain; Georges-Pierre Seurat by Pimrils via Wikimedia Commons)

Metalpoint is the use of malleable metals like silver, pewter, and gold to make drawing marks on prepared surfaces. (Figure 6.1.3) The surface must have a “tooth” or roughness to hold the marks. Any pure silver or gold object can be used for this, though artists today favor silver and gold wire held in mechanical pencils for the process.

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Head of a Girl. (Public Domain; Leonardo da Vinci via Wikiart)

Graphite is a crystalline form of carbon. In the sixteenth century, a large deposit of pure graphite was discovered in England, and it became the primary source for this drawing material. Because of its silvery color, it was originally thought to be a form of lead, though there is no actual lead in pencils. Today powdered graphite is mixed with clay to control hardness.

Pastels are similar to compressed charcoal but, instead of finely powdered carbon, finely ground colored pigment and a binder are used to create handheld colored blocks. (Figure 6.1.4) The powdery pigments smudge easily, so the image created must be displayed under glass or covered with a fixative. Edgar Degas (1834-1917, France) is famous for the subtle yet distinct layering of color he was able achieve in his pastel drawings. (Figure 6.1.5)

Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Pastels. (Public Domain; by Tau1012 via Wikimedia Commons)

Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): Nach dem Bade sich abtrocknende Frau (After the Bath, Woman drying herself). (Public Domain; Edgar Degas by Crisco via Wikimedia Commons)

Oil pastels are semi-solid sticks of high pigment oil paint that are used like crayons. They were originally in- vented to mark livestock, but artists quickly realized their aesthetic potential. Oil pastels are a convenient way to apply and blend heavily textured oil-based pigment onto any surface without using traditional brushes. The colors are vibrant, and the marks are gestural and immediate so oil pastel drawings can show the “hand” of the artist in a direct way, as can be seen here in East Palatka Onions, a 1983 oil pastel drawing by Mary Ann Currier (b. 1927, USA).

Ink is the combination of a colored pigment, usually black carbon or graphite, and a binder suspended in a liquid and applied with a pen or brush. A wide range of substances have been used over time to make ink, including lamp black or soot, burned animal bones, gall- nuts, and iron oxide. The pigment must be finely ground and held together with a binder. There is a long tradition of fine art ink drawings. Although the example given dates to the fourteenth century, the oldest ink drawings come from China in the third century BCE and are done on silk and paper. (Figure 6.1.6)

Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\): Spring Dawn Over the Elixir Terrace. (OASC, Lu Guang via Met Museum)