William Miller

Drawing with Color William Miller

Drawing is one of the oldest forms of human expression, with evidence for its existence preceding that of written communication. It is believed that drawing was used as a specialized form of communication before the invention of the written language, demonstrated by the production of cave and rock paintings around 30,000 years ago. These drawings, known as pictograms, depicted objects and abstract concepts. The sketches and paintings produced in Neolithic times were eventually stylized and simplified in to symbol systems (proto-writing) and eventually into early writing systems. Drawing is generally concerned with the marking of lines and areas of tone onto paper/other material, where the accurate representation of the visual world is expressed upon a plane surface. Traditional drawings were monochrome, or at least had little color, while modern colored-pencil drawings may approach or cross a boundary between drawing and painting. In Western terminology, drawing is distinct from painting, even though similar materials often are employed in both tasks. Dry media, normally associated with drawing, such as chalk, may be used in paintings. Drawing may be done with a liquid medium, applied with brushes or pens. Similar supports likewise can serve both: painting generally involves the application of liquid paint onto prepared canvas or panels, but sometimes an under drawing is drawn first on that same support.