Sketch (drawing)

A sketch (ultimately from Greek σχέδιος – schedios, "done extempore"[1][2][3]) is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work.

The term is most often applied to graphic work executed in a dry medium such as silverpoint, graphite, pencil, charcoal or pastel.

It may be somewhat limited in effect, yet it conveys dimension, movement, structure and mood; it can also suggest texture to some extent.

Underdrawing is drawing underneath the final work, which may sometimes still be visible, or can be viewed by modern scientific methods such as X-rays.

Most visual artists use, to a greater or lesser degree, the sketch as a method of recording or working out ideas.

The sketchbooks of some individual artists have become very well known,[4] including those of Leonardo da Vinci and Edgar Degas which have become art objects in their own right, with many pages showing finished studies as well as sketches.

Jesus and the Adulteress , a sketched figure composition by Rembrandt
Charcoal sketch of willows by Thomas Gainsborough