Drawing

Drawing is essentially a technique in which images are depicted on a surface by making lines, though drawings can also contain tonal areas, washes and other non-linear marks

Eva Hesse
*Untitled* (1967)
Tate

© The estate of Eva Hesse, courtesy Hauser & Wirth, Zürich

Ink, pencil, crayon, charcoal and chalk are the most commonly used materials, but drawings can be made with or in combination with paint and any other wet or dry media.

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Chalk

Chalk is a soft powdery white or off-white writing or drawing material in crayon form, generally used on a blackboard …
Charcoal

Charcoal is a black crumbly drawing material made of carbon and often used for sketching and under-drawing for paintings, although …
Graphite

Graphite is a metallic grey writing and drawing material most commonly used in pencil form – though graphite powder is …
Ink

Ink is an ancient writing and drawing medium in liquid or paste form, traditionally black or brown in colour – …
Pastel

Pastel is a coloured drawing medium made from pure coloured pigment mixed with a binder to form a stick
Vanishing point

The point at which receding parallel lines viewed in perspective appear to converge
Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro is an Italian term which translates as light-dark, and refers to the balance and pattern of light and shade …

Selected artists who draw

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Tate Etc

Sculpture and the scalpel

Barbara Hepworth

Many of us are familiar with Barbara Hepworth’s drawings of surgeons and staff in operating theatres, which were done in …
Tate Etc

‘The Process of Drawing is like Writing a Diary: It's a Nice Way of Thinking About Time Passing’

Bice Curiger

Rachel Whiteread
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Tate Etc

Thinking drawing

Vija Celmins and Simon Grant1

Vija Celmins was born in Latvia in 1938, fled with her family to Germany in advance of the Soviet army …

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Tate Papers

Drawing in the Dark

Susan Morris

Susan Morris approaches the subject of involuntary drawing from the point of view of an artist trying to make a …
Tate Papers

Cinematic Drawing in a Digital Age

Ed Krčma

Developed in relation to works by Tacita Dean and William Kentridge, this article explores the way in which the arrival …

Selected artworks in the collection

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Cornelia Parker Pornographic Drawing

1996

On display at Tate Britain part of Cornelia Parker
Rebecca Horn Unicorn

1968–9
Leonora Carrington I am an Amateur of Velocipedes

1941

View by appointment
Leon Kossoff Drawing for ‘Children’s Swimming Pool’

1971
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Study of a Girl’s Head

1866
Günter Brus, Arnulf Rainer No, Daphne, No!

1984
Richard Deacon Untitled Drawing

1980

Drawing at Tate

Tate Britain
Exhibition

Rachel Whiteread Drawings

8 Sep 2010 – 16 Jan 2011

Rachel Whiteread Drawings; past exhibition at Tate Britain
Tate Liverpool
Exhibition

Tracing the Century: Drawing as a Catalyst for Change

16 Nov 2012 – 20 Jan 2013

Tracing the Century: Drawing as a Catalyst for Change exhibition at Tate Liverpool 16 November 2012 – 20 January 2013
Tate Britain
Exhibition

Sculpture and Drawings by Henry Moore

2 May – 29 Jul 1951

Sculpture and Drawings by Henry Moore; 1951 exhibition at Tate Gallery

Drawing

Related materials and techniques

Selected artists who draw

Tate Etc

Tate Etc

Tate Etc

Explore this term

Tate Papers

Tate Papers

Selected artworks in the collection

Cornelia Parker Pornographic Drawing

Rebecca Horn Unicorn

Leonora Carrington I am an Amateur of Velocipedes

Leon Kossoff Drawing for ‘Children’s Swimming Pool’

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Study of a Girl’s Head

Günter Brus, Arnulf Rainer No, Daphne, No!

Richard Deacon Untitled Drawing

Drawing at Tate

Tate Britain Exhibition

Tate Liverpool Exhibition

Tate Britain Exhibition

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Tate Britain
Exhibition

Tate Liverpool
Exhibition

Tate Britain
Exhibition