Artists working in drawing

Alberto Giacometti said that “drawing is the basis of everything" – and indeed, when it comes to art, drawing is a key starting point: for painting, for learning how to represent the world, even for sculpture in order to understand how forms fit together…

For a long time, drawing was not considered an art form in its own right. Instead it was simply part of an artist's training or the preparatory stages for creating a final artwork. Over time, drawing has gradually showed itself to be an complex and diverse discipline that is worthy of attention.

Artists and theorists specialised in drawing focussed on this practice to redefine it and expand its scope. What was before mostly referred to with the prefix “preparatory" took on a variety of forms and clearly demonstrated that the medium should be considered as an important part of the visuals arts.

Drawing has always been a part of the history of art, from the very first instance of visual art in prehistoric caves to the 21st century. It has continued to evolve depending on the time period and place, just like painting and sculpture. However, it was in the 19th century, when drawing began to be recognised as a medium in its own right that it became even more diverse.

Drawing forms the basis of many artistic practices, including designers, architects, stylists, graphic artists, and illustrators, but above all, it is also a real means of artistic expression in the same way as other forms of visual arts.

Visual artists were able to raise it to the rank of an artistic discipline by exploring new and varied drawing techniques and by using different media.

Whether done with Indian ink, gouache, watercolour, pen, pencil, marker pen or charcoal, drawing is, like any other artistic practice, subject to standards and classified according to a number of artistic movement. Drawings can be described as abstract, figurative, graphic, geometrical, and hyper-realistic.

On Artsper, you'll find artists specialised in drawing who work in a wide range of styles and embody the diversity that is present in contemporary drawing: you'll discover Mario Kolaric's minimalist works, Izumi Kato's intriguing portraits, Eduardo Arroyo's sketches, or Ernest Pignon-Ernest's street art style…