drawing

drawing art of the draftsman. In its broadest sense it includes every use of the delineated line and is thus basic to the arts of painting, architecture, sculpture, calligraphy, and geometry. The word drawing is commonly used to denote works in pen, pencil, crayon, chalk, charcoal, or similar media in which form rather than color is emphasized. For centuries drawings have been made either as preparatory studies (see cartoon ) or as finished works of art. Preparatory drawings sometimes reveal a vigor and spontaneity lacking in the completed work. Among the many artists acclaimed for their drawings are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dürer, Rubens, Hogarth, Goya, Daumier, Klee, Picasso, and Matisse. Drawings are often used as illustrations and are reproduced by such processes as etching , engraving , and lithography .

Bibliography: See H. Hutter, Drawing: History and Technique (tr. 1968); K. T. Parker, ed., Old Master Drawings (14 vol., 1940, repr. 1970); J. Meder et al., The Mastery of Drawing (2 vol., 1978).

draw draw someone's fire attract hostile criticism away from a more important target.
draw the longbow make exaggerated statements about one's own achievements, boast; the term is recorded from the early 19th century.
whosoever draws his sword against the prince must throw the scabbard away anyone who tries to assassinate or depose a monarch must remain constantly on the defence, so that his sword can never return to its scabbard. Saying recorded from the early 17th century.

See also draw the line at, draw the short straw.