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Drawing is the art of representing shapes and forms on a surface essentially by means of lines, but may also include color and shading. Drawings, such as figure drawing and portrait drawings , emphasize form rather than color; color in drawing is used chiefly for effect and may not necessarily represent the natural color of the object being drawn. Drawings are usually rendered in chalk, charcoal, colored pencil, crayon, graphite, pastel, pen and ink or in combinations of various drawing media. Although drawings constitute an early stage in many art activities, drawings can also stand independently as finished works of original art.
Drawings, whether animal drawings , portrait drawings or drawings of imaginary objects, are pictorial representations of the natural world as perceived by the artist or illustrative depictions of the fantastic realm that exists only in the artist's imagination. By capturing the essence of the subject in lines and shade, drawings reveal facets of the subject that may or may not be immediately known to the observer. Thus, a figure
drawing celebrates the movement and poetry of the human form, horse drawings portray the grace and untamed spirit of the equine species, and portrait drawings illuminate the hidden character and soul of the human subject.
Prehistoric animal drawings and figure drawing on rocks faces and cave walls provide irrefutable evidence of primitive humans' use of drawing as a means of communication and personal narrative. Ancient horse
drawings depict stone-age humans hunting down the horse for food, while animal drawings on cave interiors narrate early humans' encounters with the beasts that roamed the young planet.
Equally significant are contemporary animal drawings and horse
drawings that serve as fine works of art and awe-inspiring progenies of artistic expression. Animal drawings and horse
drawings are characterized by the artist's fascination with the mystique and power of animal anatomy and movement. The graceful balance, intriguing form, and fluid sense of movement of animals and horses are rendered with a keen sense of mechanics-aesthetics interplay in artist-created animal drawings and horse drawings . Among all animals whose forms and figures have been interpreted in myriad ways in innumerable animal drawings , horses are easily the most popular, as evidenced by the huge demand for horse drawings of wild horses and horse drawings of paint horses for sale. Whether portraying horses in motion or in repose, horse drawings evoke the freedom and wild instincts with which humans associate these majestic animals.
Portrait
drawings reveal parts of subject's character and personality as perceived by the artist. Keen knowledge and understanding of the structure of the human face and head is necessary to create portrait drawings that accurately grasp the essential qualities of the subject in lines and shadows, without neglecting the small details that encapsulate the mood and temperament of the subject at the time the portrait drawings were drawn. Lines, curves, and shadows in portrait
drawings navigate the fascinating terrain of the human countenance while exploring a wide range of human emotion. Whether depicting a female subject as a flawed heroine or an eminent matriarch, portrait drawings are visual studies in human character, which may demystify the subject or add to her enigma.
Figure drawing celebrates the unparalleled beauty of the human form. Long regarded as a symbol of perfection, the human form provides the figure drawing artist with a challenging and stimulating subject that intrigues and provokes with its alluring movements and poses. Like portrait drawings and animal drawings , figure drawing demands an intimate knowledge of the subject's anatomy and an eye for the nuances of form and movement. Old
Masters figure drawing , such as the Da Vinci's Vitruvian man and Michelangelo's Male nude with proportions indicated , evince an almost metaphysical perception of the human form as a paragon of compositional harmony and universal proportion. Figure drawing , whether delineating the dynamic vitality of human movement and gestures or suggesting the grace and sensuality of the human body in repose, manifests the figure drawing artist's discernment of the profound mystery of the human form. |