History of Drawing by Jozlyn Greene

Use of Charcoal

35,000 BCE

Charcoal was one of the first tools used to make artwork. Traditionally made from thin peeled willow twigs which are heated without oxygen. This produces black crumbly sticks that leave microscopic particles in the paper. Caveman used charcoal as a pigment for drawing on the walls of caves.

Pre-historic

30,000 BCE

The earliest known drawings were found on cave walls of Altamira in Spain and Lascaux in France. These drawings date back to about 30,000-10,000 BCE. The image below is the Altamira cave ceiling drawings.

Creation of Watercolors

4000 BCE

Watercolor is a painting method where the paints are made a pigments suspended in a water based solution. It is an ancient form of painting that has been used for manuscript illustration since at least Egyptian times but especially during the Middle ages. Although its continuous history as an art form begins with the Renaissance

Ancient Egypt

3000 BCE

In Ancient Egypt, Egyptians covered their temples and tombs with carving scenes of daily life. They also included hieroglyphics, deities, or gods, using a flat linear style. The image below includes a drawing of Anubis, an Egyptian god of mummification and the afterlife.

Baroque Period

1600 BCE

During this period a new style of drawing was introduced. This style included livelier forms with flowing lines. Artists began to also use watercolors and ink washed in their art. Peter Paul Rubens used a new technique called open compositions where the piece of art looks as if it burst through the canvas. Artists had access to sketchbooks allowing them to take it outside to draw landscapes and depictions of scenes. Below is one of Peter Paul Ruben's paintings.

Creation of Graphite Pencils

1600 BCE

Graphite was first discovered in Cumbria in North England. It had resembled coal although it did not burn. Despite graphite being discovered in the 16th century, it was not used for art until the 17th century. The first man to make the graphite pencil was Nicolas-Jacques Conte. At first pencils consisted of rough pieces of graphite wrapped in sheepskin.

Creation of Pencils

1564 BCE

Pencils were first created early in the 1800s and became popular very quickly. They became the preferred drawing tools for many artists. Ingres and Goya were the artists spearheading the use of this tool, capturing everyday scenery. This change from traditional scenes led artists to question traditional training. this created various art movements such as Cubism, Expressionism, Impressionism, and Fauvism.

Middle Ages

1399 BCE

Throughout the Middle Ages 400-1400 CE, drawings were created mainly to express religious messages and stories of the Bible. Monks had used paintings and drawings to illustrate Bibles and prayer books for wealthy families. Typically would be drawn on wood, slates, or wax as the paper had not yet been invented. Artists also kept model books that included images of humans or subjects from nature to copy rather than a live model.

Renaissance

1300 BCE

During the Renaissance, drawing began to take the form of drawing we see today. In Italy, drawing was seen as a respected art form due to the rise of paper. It became the foundation of all artwork, students were first trained to draw before other forms of art. It also became important to scientists as a form of documentation to their learning of the world. Creating realistic depictions of the natural world and new methods of using softer materials as charcoal increased. Art became very popular.

Creation of Paper

105 BCE

Paper was first made in Lei-Yang, China by Ts'ai Lung in 105 A.D. They had mixed mulberry bark, hemp, and rags with water mashed into pulp.