LEARN HOW TO DESCRIBE A DRAWING✏️!
“Drawing includes three and a half quarters of the content of painting… Drawing contains everything, except the hue.”
~Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Artist
This is the third lesson of our Describing Pictures series. You will learn how to describe a drawing in a clear and easy way.
Let’s start with a few definitions:
- A ‘drawing‘ is said to be a picture or diagram that is made with a pencil, pen, crayon, charcoal or graphics’ software instead of paint.
- A ‘painting’ is a picture or image that is created when paint or other pigments are applied to a solid surface such as canvas or paper.
Just like in Photography and Painting, there are different types of drawings. Why don’t we look at a few examples?
Describe a Drawing (STEP 1): Different Types of Drawings
Types of Drawings
- Pencil
- Ink
- Digital
- Freehand
- Sketch
- Line
- Doodle
- Caricature
- Technical
- Caveman
- Illustration
- Cartoon
- Graffiti
- Mural
- Panoramic
- Miniature
- Chiaroscuro
- Sand
- Study
- Scribble
- Stippling
Drawings about People
- Portrait (Full length, three quarter length, half length, bust, head and shoulders, self, individual, group, family, presidential, etc)
- Caricature
- Fan art
- Celebrity
- Nude
- Life
- Gesture
- Silhouette
- Courtroom
- Stick figure
Drawings about Objects
- Still life
- Product design
- Advertisement sketch
- Geometrical
- Technical
- Engineering
Drawings about Nature
- Landscape
- Scenery
- Mountain
- Wildlife
- Pet portrait
- Nature
- Panoramic
- Rainbow
- Sunrise and sunset
Drawings about Places
- Street (Pavement Art/ Street Art/ Sidewalk Art)
- Cityscape
- Townscape
- Travel (Travel Art)
- Aerial view
Illustration Drawings
- Book
- Fashion
- Working
- Scientific
- Medical
- Architectural
- Archaelogical
- Botanical
- Biological
- Technical
Drawings that Tell Stories
- Cartoons
- Comic strips
- Life story
- Genre
- Historical
- Biblical
- Religious
- Propaganda
- Abstract
- Cultural
Describe a Drawing (STEP 2): What do you see?
You need to follow a few basic steps when you describe a drawing. These are: Identification, Description and Interpretation.
You will gradually notice that there are a lot of similarities between painting and drawing descriptions.
a) Identification of the Drawing
Answer the 6 WH- questions: WHAT, WHO, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW.
WHAT: An illustration? A cartoon? A sketch? Is there any title? What striking features can you see?
WHO: A man? A woman? A boy? A girl? A group of people? Who is the artist? Is his or her name given? Can you see anyone in the drawing?
WHEN: When was the drawing created? (E.g. The drawing dates back to 2005); what is the time of the day or the year? Is it in the morning, in the afternoon or in the evening? Is it spring, summer, autumn or winter?
WHERE: Where was the drawing first shown, exhibited or published? Are the people or the objects in the drawing somewhere recognisable?
WHY: Why was the drawing created? What is its purpose? To illustrate? To expose social ills? To serve as a preparatory base for a future painting?
HOW: How was the drawing done? What were the techniques that were used? Freehand? Digital? Chiaroscuro? You can also talk about the tools: pencils, pens, charcoal, pastels, chalk, drawing app, canvas, paper, fingers, cardboard, computer, sand, etc)
Sample Description
Description:
This is a sketch by Jono Hey and it was first published on his website sketchplanations.com in 2019. The exact date of publication is not given. The drawing is part of a series of sketches the artist creates to explain different types of words or phenomena, hence the neologism: ‘sketchplanation‘. This particular sketch defines the word ‘Capitonym’ and uses the word ‘turkey’ as an example.
Your Turn: Choose a drawing that you like and describe it by answering the 6 WH-questions.
b) Thorough Description of the Drawing
This is the section where you unleash or your descriptive powers by using relevant art description vocabulary. When you set your eyes on the drawing, you have to focus on the following points:
- Size: life-size, miniature, mural, large, medium, small, etc
- Composition: the focal point, the top, the bottom, the left, the right, the top left-hand corner, the top right-hand corner, the bottom left-hand corner, the bottom right-hand corner, the foreground, the background, the middle, balance, unity, discordance, focus, emphasis, proportion, layout, pattern, rhythm, variety, format, symmetry, etc.
- Colours: natural, artificial, warm, cool, neutral, light, dark, sombre, radiant, brilliant, bright, intense, blazing, twinkling, scintillating, shimmering, lively, dull, lacklustre, lifeless, insipid, flat, depressing, pale, harmonious, discordant, garish, mixed, blended, broken, ostentatious, loud, kitschy, drab, etc.
- Tone (Value or Chiaroscuro — how dark or light a colour is): dark, light, dull, grey, dark grey, monochromatic, low key, high key, etc
- Texture: rough, smooth, jagged, pebbly, rocky, sandy, bristly, coarse, fuzzy, soft, shiny, glossy, silky, feathery, woolly, barky, sticky, etc.
- Lines: straight, curved, spiral, diagonal, vertical, perpendicular, parallel, zigzag, freehand, thin, thick, continuous, broken, jagged, dotted, etc.
- Mood or atmosphere: Lively, cheerful, merry, perky, sparkly, joyful, blissful, bright, humorous, comical, animated, spirited, playful, whimsical, dark, sad, sombre, depressing, gloomy, chilling, frightening, mysterious, disturbing, unsettling, peaceful, tranquil, calming, soothing, optimistic, pessimistic, lethargic, melancholy, angry, fearsome, ominous, ironical, satirical, etc.
- Shapes: circular, triangular, geometric, rectangular, square, angular, curvy, cylindrical, spherical, pyramidal, two-dimensional (2-D), three-dimensional (3-D), etc.
- Style: Realist, Photorealistic, Cubist, Expressionistic, Impressionistic, Art-nouveau, Surrealist, Abstract, Manga, etc
Sample Detailed Description
Description
This is a satirical cartoon by Mark Knight, a veteran cartoonist, and it seems to have been made with a computer software. The controversial drawing first appeared in the The Herald Sun, in Australia, on September 9th, 2018. It shows multiple grand slam winner, Serena Williams, throwing a child-like tantrum after her loss to 20-year-old Naomi Osaka at the US Open. There was a public outcry in the aftermath of publication, as many people qualified it as racist and sexist.
An over-sized Williams with thick red lips, wiry hairy and a masculine body, occupies almost one half of the drawing. She is portrayed as an ‘angry black woman’ and her blind fury can be seen in the way she stomps on the broken tennis racquet, with clenched fists and closed eyes. In the foreground, we can also see a dummy or pacifier which she seems to have thrown out of her gaping mouth in a fit of passion.
On the contrary, Naomi Osaka, her opponent in the background, is portrayed with feminine features. She has long, straight blond hair; she is slim and she behaves in a lady-like manner. The umpire who is sitting in a tall chair, is seen talking to Osaka. The text reads: “Can you just let her win?” His features are not exaggerated as opposed to Serena’s. The public, privileged and first-class spectators of this drama, is barely visible, since the focus is on the three main ‘actors’.
Your Turn: Look for a drawing and try to use the vocabulary you have just learned to describe it. Focus on areas of interest only.
c) Interpretation of the Drawing
You can give your personal opinion about the drawing by using the following expressions:
- The cartoon exposes…
- The drawing is a satirical portrayal of…
- The artist might have wanted to…
- This scene portrays…
- The drawing depicts…
- In my opinion, the drawing portrays…
- I think that this drawing wants to show…
- The foreground highlights…
- The targeted audience of the drawing is…
- The message is directed towards…
- This a comment on…
- It reflects…
- The artist’s intention is/was…
- The painting conveys a sense of…
- We get the feeling that…
Sample Detailed Description with Interpretation
Description
This political cartoon, entitled ‘What’s Left of Mandela’s Legacy‘ was drawn by Kenyan cartoonist, Victor Ndula. It was initially published on a website called cartoonmovement.com on February 11th, 2010. The drawing is a commentary on South Africa’s economic and social state before and after Nelson Mandela came to power.
The cartoon shows the newly-elected President in three separate frames. He is dressed in his iconic traditional attire composed of a loose and colourful ‘Madiba shirt’ paired with gray trousers.
In the first image, Mandela is seen to be erasing the country’s apartheid history with a paintbrush and pink, dripping paint. The ‘WHITE ONLY’ and ‘BLACK ONLY’ signs that symbolise segregation are made irrelevant with big crosses in the top left-hand corner. The head of state is standing straight and he seems to be sure and proud of what he is doing.
In the second picture, the new leader is seen walking away towards the future with stylish and confident movements. The look on his face could be described as smug and self-satisfied. However, we can note that he is not looking straight where he is going. He seems to be concentrating on what people might think of his gesture. The viewer starts to get the impression that the future might not be as ‘rosy’ as the President would like us to believe.
The last frame depicts a different type of leader. He looks perplexed and confused. His back is slightly hunched and he seems to be sweating by the look of his head. Segregation signs to have reappeared in the top right-hand corner of the drawing. They read: ‘RICH ONLY’ and ‘POOR ONLY’. Mandela seems to realise, a little bit too late, that there is another type of divide that is plaguing his nation: The gap between the haves and the have-nots.
The cartoonist seems to be the voice of people who thought that their economic woes would disappear after Mandela’s election. One day, they woke up and faced the hard wall of reality: a leader, however mighty he or she can be, cannot erase decades of inequality with brushstrokes of paint. The ugly nature of apartheid cannot be embellished by a pink and feminine-looking paint.
Your Turn: Find a satirical or political cartoon and describe it following the above pattern. Good luck!
Further Exploration: (Describe a drawing)
Download Worksheet:
Read:
- English Vocabulary (Describing Pictures): Lesson 2-How to Describe a Painting Thoroughly, November 2019
- English Vocabulary (Describing Pictures): Lesson 1-How to Describe a Photograph in Detail, November 2019
- Picture Description Vocabulary, Learn English With Africa, November 2015
- Vocabulary for Expressing Opinions, Learn English With Africa, November 2018
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About the Author
Thandi Ngwira Gatignol is the founder of Learn English With Africa. She was born on June 11th, 1981 in Blantyre, Malawi. When she was 19, she left her country of birth for France. She currently lives with her two daughters and husband in Poland.
Thandi holds a Bachelor’s degree in English studies obtained at the Université Paris X Nanterre in France and a Certificate in Journalism from Malawi. She has taught English as a French Ministry of Education certified teacher both in France and in Poland. She speaks six languages fluently, including French, Polish and Italian. She is now learning Kiswahili, German and Spanish. Salt No More is her debut novel and you can find her other books here on the website or on Amazon.
Course Title: English Vocabulary (Describing Pictures): Lesson 3-How to Describe a Drawing Easily and Efficiently © Learn English With Africa, July 2023
