About SketchingLearn More

Sketching is one of the most fundamental and essential skills in art. It refers to the quickly drawn lines that create rough outlines of objects. While sketches are typically drawn with a writing instrument like graphite pencils, charcoal, or ink, you can also use painting media like oil, acrylic, or watercolor. Sometimes these works are preliminary sketches for what will be finished drawings or paintings. Other times, they are simply for practice or warming-up before creating another artwork — like in sketchbooks. The technique of sketching is especially useful when learning to draw figures and landscapes. By quickly plotting the shapes and composition, the artist will immediately feel less intimidated when creating a drawing or painting. The beauty of sketching is that it can be used by people with a variety of different artistic skill sets like animators, architects, fashion or product designers, and visual artists at any point during their careers.

While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, sketching is a specific type of drawing. To clarify the terms: drawing is defined as making marks, such as lines, on a drawing surface whereas sketching refers to the roughly drawn outlines of what the objects will or could be in a finished drawing. You may have heard of the phrase "preliminary sketch." This directly refers to the type of sketch used to plan out the objects in a composition or the full composition itself — the starting point for a drawing. It is also important to note that not all sketches become finished drawings. A drawing, on the other hand, is considered to be a completed art object. Some sketches are simply used to quickly capture the shape, contour, or layout of the object or scene. Often, they're used later as references for compositions, or maybe they were just drawn to begin the creative process.

Sketching is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to start making art. All you need is something to draw with — a pencil, charcoal, or pen — and a drawing surface, like paper. First, it helps to learn a few of the fundamentals: shape, form, and perspective. You'll learn to draw by identifying basic shapes found in all objects, arrange and then layer them onto the paper before returning to the object to darken in lines. You'll also learn how to quickly capture concepts like movement or emotion just by using lines. As you advance, you'll learn how to sketch in greater detail with varying types of graphite or chalks and how to use your sketches to create finished artworks like drawings. Sketching is a great way to warm up your hand before diving into long drawing or painting sessions. It's a skill that you'll return to no matter where you are on your artistic journey.