The Importance Of Drawing In Art

Drawing has been used as a form of expression since the early dawn of human history. It is even believed that early drawings served as a form of communication between people before the advent of language. Eventually, these simple rock drawings lead to the creation of written language1. Through ancient and medieval civilizations, drawing served religious and ceremonial purposes. For example, in ancient Egypt, drawings on temple walls demonstrated the Egyptian beliefs and views on gods and the after life2. However, up until this point, drawing in general served a very specific and narrow purpose. It wasn’t until the early Renaissance that drawing gained a special attention due to its use in art.

Before addressing the topic of drawing in the

In large studios, drawing didn’t only serve as way of conceiving ideas or as an intermediary work between the initial design and the finished work, it also was used as a teaching guide for aspiring students who worked under a mentor and it was also used to preserve the studio’s tradition12. At first, students began performing some simple and basic tasks such as grinding colors and preparing supports. Next, students would make copy drawings of their master’s work. By drawing their master’s collection, apprentices not only gained valuable drawing skills, but they also learned common designs and patterns that can be employed in future works. When the artists became more advanced, they were encouraged to roam the city and draw sculptures and statuettes. Drawing these figures taught the artists how to represent a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional plane and capturing the human form. These two skills were essential to the Renaissance artist as students weren’t allowed to advance to the next stages of training unless they mastered these two skills. Finally, apprentices would move on to draw live models. Only after going through the mentioned stages, the student would graduate to painting and start helping his/her mentor with artwork13. As we can see, drawing was a crucial aspect of the art training process and without it, the training

Drawing has helped artists through the artistic process as it allowed them to explore and come up with elaborate and original designs with ease. It also facilitated the study of anatomy and allowed artists to capture the world around them with exquisite and delicate detail. Following the cost reduction of paper production, artists used drawing for practicing and advancing their own skills. In addition to that, drawing formalized the process of art commissioning by acting as a legally binding contract. On the other hand, drawing played an equally important role in the process of teaching art. By copying their master’s work and drawing real life models, students gained invaluable skills such as representing three dimensional objects on two dimensional planes. Eventually, drawing evolved to become an independent and stand alone