DRAWING, in its strict meaning, is the art of representing objects on a flat surface by lines describing their forms and contours alone, independently of colour or even shadow, although the latter is closely allied with draw ing, both in practice and in theory. Although drawing embraces all objects and their forms, in its more restricted technical sense it is usually understood to imply the drawing of the human figure, as that species of it which is the most scientific in itself and the most important in art. Perspective, which is gene rally treated of separately, and is therefore ordinarily considered a distinct study, is never less a most essential part of drawing—in fact, its very grammar, all objects being subject to its laws, although they do not admit of being delineated according to the processes employed for drawing buildings, furniture, and such things as consist of strict geometrical forms.
There are various manipulations or modes of drawing, distinguished according to the materials or implements made use of, such as chalk, black lead pencil, sepia or other tinted drawings, which last-mentioned class are some times called washed drawings, in which some indication of colouring is occasionally intro.
duced. But what is termed water-colour drawing, as now practised, is altogether a species of painting, although the process is totally different from that of oil colours, or even distemper. Pen and ink drawings, in the stylo of etchings, either with or without tho addition of wash or shadow, are capable of producing considerable effect.
The invention of Lithography has been ap plied with great success to making facsimiles of such drawings ; it also enables artists to make drawings at once upon stone, from which impressions may afterwards be taken that are equivalent to autograph delineations.
Our Schools of Design are becoming every year more and more the means of diffusing a knowledge of drawing among artisans and pattern designers ; a knowledge, the fruits of which will be shown at the forthcoming Ex hibition.