page_title: Drawing
section_title: Process
hierarchical_section_title: Drawing / Process
caption_attribution_description: English: Two young women practising drawing in front of the Barberini Fawn. Glyptothek Sculpture museum. K&#246;nigsplatz Munich, Germany
context_page_description: Drawing is a form of visual art in which a person uses various drawing instruments to mark paper or another two-dimensional medium. Instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, various kinds of erasers, markers, styluses, and various metals. Digital drawing is the act of using a computer to draw. Common methods of digital drawing include a stylus or finger on a touchscreen device, stylus- or finger-to-touchpad, or in some cases, a mouse. There are many digital art programs and devices.
  A drawing instrument releases a small amount of material onto a surface, leaving a visible mark. The most common support for drawing is paper, although other materials, such as cardboard, wood, plastic, leather, canvas, and board, may be used. Temporary drawings may be made on a blackboard or whiteboard or indeed almost anything. The medium has been a popular and fundamental means of public expression throughout human history. It is one of the simplest and most efficient means of communicating visual ideas.
context_section_description: Individuals display differences in their ability to produce visually accurate drawings. A visually accurate drawing is described as being "recognized as a particular object at a particular time and in a particular space, rendered with little addition of visual detail that can not be seen in the object represented or with little deletion of visual detail”. 
  Investigative studies have aimed to explain the reasons why some individuals draw better than others.
  One study posited four key abilities in the drawing process: motor skills required for mark-making, the drawer's own perception of their drawing, perception of objects being drawn, and the ability to make good representational decisions. Following this hypothesis, several studies have sought to conclude which of these processes are most significant in affecting the accuracy of drawings.
  Motor control
  Motor control is an important physical component in the 'Production Phase' of the drawing process. It has been suggested that motor control plays a role in drawing ability, though its effects are not significant.
  Perception
  It has been suggested that an individual's ability to perceive an object they are drawing is the most important stage in the drawing process.  This suggestion is supported by the discovery of a robust relationship between perception and drawing ability.
  This evidence acted as the basis of Betty Edwards' how-to-draw book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Edwards aimed to teach her readers how to draw, based on the development of the reader's perceptual abilities.
  Furthermore, the influential artist and art critic John Ruskin emphasised the importance of perception in the drawing process in his book The Elements of Drawing.  He stated that "For I am nearly convinced, that once we see keenly enough, there is very little difficult in drawing what we see".
  Visual memory
  This has also been shown to influence one's ability to create visually accurate drawings.
  Short-term memory plays an important part in drawing as one's gaze shifts between the object they are drawing and the drawing itself.
  Decision-making
  Some studies comparing artists to non-artists have found that artists spend more time thinking strategically while drawing. In particular, artists spend more time on 'metacognitive' activities such as considering different hypothetical plans for how they might progress with a drawing.
caption: A person drawing the Barberini Faun in Munich
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