Talk:Sketch (drawing)

Latest comment: 24 days ago by Cavarrone in topic "Pensiero" listed at Redirects for discussion

Ewulp: please don't revert this again. It's really important that the change in meaning get across, because it's a fundamental part of knowing how to draw, well. Experienced artists use sketches, more than any other reason, to test out the "heart" of any time-consuming finished piece, and get it right before they start doing the tedious work - work that might go wrong, if they didn't plan well. One can reference this from Da Vinci's sketchbook, or any of dozens of illustrators, if you'd like - it is THE suggested working method. In fact, this is true in practically any field - it's why architects make scale models, or why directors make storyboards. Unfortunately, it's still not obvious to beginners. It's incredibly important that anyone who is going to get into drawing avoids the beginner's mistake of not using sketches to plan a work. Wikipedia can reach and educate so many people. Let's get it right. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Satariel (talkcontribs) 04:09, 28 December 2008 (UTC)Reply


Merge of Pencil sketching edit

This article overlaps with pencil sketching. I agree that they should be merged into this article. —C.Fred (talk) 01:00, 24 March 2006 (UTC)Reply

I also support a merge, for the same reasons as C.Fred. --Allan McInnes (talk) 04:09, 7 April 2006 (UTC)Reply

Yes i agree with both, it is redundant --85.240.168.43 15:02, 4 July 2006 (UTC)Reply

It might be interesting to note about sketching permission policies. For instance, some museums prohibit sketching (to which David Hockney had a clear rebuttal, see Wikiquote http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Hockney), a policy which seems to be increasing recently with stricter interpretations of copyright permissions. On the other hand, courtroom sketching is sometimes the only allowed recording medium, e.g. courtroom sketching. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 220.211.250.162 (talkcontribs) 10:12, 7 September 2006 )UTC).

This article needs to be linked to sketchbook. I've been updating the latter and will come back and do that when I've finished Cosmopolitancats 10:12, 9 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

Sketches as art edit

Could there not be a section on the validity of sketches being a work of art in their own right? Specifically I'm thinking about some of the Impressionists work.


de Haaff


I have deleted the image that I put for lack of source. Madeeha2

Merge of Cartoon sketching edit

Is there anything in cartoon sketching which isn't covered here or could be included in a subsection if there is anything signficantly different about cartoon sketching to warrant it? I can't see any such differences --08:22, 8 November 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.7.40.7 (talk)

Looks like a good idea to me  Ronhjones  (Talk) 00:21, 10 November 2009 (UTC)Reply

just removed a paragraph edit

It annoys me that inappropriate stuff can be written into an article or silly edits can be made existent material by people who don't sign in, and then get left there, unquestioned, for the next five years, by the people who wrote the page and presumably watch it.

  • Firstly, the introduction defines "sketch" as is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not intended as a finished work
  • In August 2006, Zeimusu comes along and tries to merge and reconcile two articles, this one and Pencil sketch. They don't merge successfully, because whoever wrote "pencil sketch" did not actually have the same thing in mind. They were using the word "sketch" to mean "finished drawing". How do we know? Zeimusu added a description of a "finished drawing" technique.
Pencil sketching is often mostly pencil erasing, that is once the graphite from the pencil is placed on the paper the harsh lines are smudged using an art gum eraser to create shading and fullness. When skillfully done the drawing in pencil will resemble a black and white (or rather a "grayscale") rendering of a photograph. Two kinds of erasers are common in pencil drawing: art gum and hard rubber. Art gum will not totally remove the graphite from the paper but will create the aforementioned shading effect; hard rubber will remove the graphite to "clean up" the drawing by removing the unwanted lines or to bring the drawing into perspective.
Note that this description refers to "shading and fullness", "skilfully done", "grayscale rendering of a photo", "and "cleaning up". All this has nothing to do with "sketch" as defined in the intro. It has to do with the production of a drawing which is a finished artwork in its own right.
In other words, the misnamed article "pencil sketch" should have been renamed "Pencil drawing" and not merged.
  • So along comes some unnamed editor who leaves the following summary: (edit an incorrect passage about erasers to something that makes more sense, and improve reference to historical drawing materials)
Contrary to popular belief, artists often use erasers when drawing; the eraser may be used to remove rough construction lines, or to soften lines for visual effect. The most commonly used eraser for pencil drawing is the kneaded eraser, which has a soft, sticky surface that enables the artist to lift the graphite or charcoal from the drawing surface without smudging. White plastic erasers can cleanly erase line work, but tend to smudge heavy shading.
So this, obviously written by someone with no understanding of the use of an "art gum" eraser, was left for five years.
It begins with this foolish assumption "Contrary to popular belief....."

OK! a sketch is a sketch, not a finished drawing. Erasers are rarely used in sketching. It's gone. Amandajm (talk) 06:38, 16 July 2011 (UTC)Reply

Recent changes edit

"A pencil drawing is one made by a piece of graphite sharpened into a fine point, and held in a porte-crayon, and the term is usually applied to a drawing made with this material upon vellum or parchment" - oh really?? Plumbago drawings are not really sketches at all. All this section should be cut, with some moved to drawing. We perhaps have too many articles on different types of drawings etc, & there should be some merging. Johnbod (talk) 12:50, 15 April 2013 (UTC)Reply

The section had just been added. It ought not be there. It is too pencil-specific. I have removed it.
A sketch can be done in any medium on any surface.
Amandajm (talk) 13:41, 16 April 2013 (UTC)Reply

Pictures from Archives edit

Can this picture be inserted in this article. (I mean can such pictures be inserted later also?) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Measuring_while_sketching.jpg Veera.sj (talk) 10:30, 30 July 2021 (UTC)Reply

@Veera.sj: Technically you can can still put the image in the article while it's still not yet deleted, but no, it's still under non-free copyright. pandakekok9 (talk) 12:45, 30 July 2021 (UTC)Reply

"Pensiero" listed at Redirects for discussion edit

  The redirect Pensiero has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 April 4 § Pensiero until a consensus is reached. Cavarrone 15:46, 4 April 2024 (UTC)Reply