DRAWING (from draft'. \ leek. doom, to drag. probably ('mmected traunn, trop•n, to carry). The delin eltion of form upon a given surface. usually plane, by 1111N11, of line-. and tints or shades. Painting and drawing arc broadly distingukhed by the use of varied color in painting. reproducing the colors of the object represented, while in drawing only the form and light and shade (or 'modeling') are represented. The forms deline ated may be visible objects, forms imagined and pre-ented as if actually seem or purely arbi trary or abstract forms, as in ornamental pat tern, and mathematical diagrams. As the de lineation of form lie, at. the foundation of all the plastic arts, drawing is the most important single branch of study in schools of art and of engineering. Since. moreover. the study of draw ing train, the faculties of observation and mem cry to a high degree. and develops an effective co ordination of the action of hand and eye. it has come to be recognized as of the highest educa tional value in any system of mental discipline. It is therefore systematically taught in the public •ehools of nearly all countries that make any pretensions to a •ell-organized educational system.
The drawing of visible objects is really the graphic recording of mental impressions received through the eye. The draughtsman seeks to pro duce upon the paper, by means of line, and tints, visual images which shall awaken in the be holder mental images and impressions as nearly as possible like those evoked directly by the ob jects represented. But since the limitations of
drawing in black and white on a plane surface forbid the complete presentation of all the visible facts and aspects of the original object. it is evi dent that the desired mental impression must be produced largely by suggestions, which stimulate the beholder's imagination to supply whatever is lacking in the representation. The drawing. in spite of being merely (for instance) an aggre gation of black lines and dots on white paper. and but an inch or two in height and width. may visibly suggest the outline, foliage, masses, light and shade of a tree. that it evokes in the mind the impressions one experiences in seeing such a tree, and the imagination at once supplies the ,ize, distance, detail, and color which the drawing lacks. Artistic power in drawing con sist- largely in the ability thus to create by sug gestion a vivid impression of reality. A sketch is a drawing which attempts to present in a way only partial and as pects of the thine- represented. An effective sketch is one in which the simplicity and vigor of the artist's personal interpretation of what he has not been sacrificed in the effort after elaborate finish. The judicious choice of what to show and what to omit calls for a highly devel oped taste, and can be mastered only by long experience. A master's sketch is worth a score of highly elaborated drawings by 'prentice hands.