Are Drawing and Painting the Same?

I really believe painting is the same as drawing. It is just another tool out of our artistic toolbox.  In the same way a dry medium has charcoal, lead, and pencil. Painting is just a wet medium. Many times, you can start a painting without lifting up any of these dry mediums onto the canvas. At times, you can use paint to draw, without using any dry medium.

“Do not be as concerned with the medium as much as getting that accuracy down in your drawing”

You can follow the form the same in the exact way with a wet medium as you can with a dry medium. You can do different things with the wet medium, like blocking in things right away and getting your shadow shapes right away with thin paint. But, neither is an advantage or disadvantage. You can do different things with different mediums. But, it still comes down to training your brain to proportion, so when you get to your next painting, your chances are better for getting that proportion correctly. Do not be as concerned with the medium as much as getting that accuracy down in your drawing. I do believe that painting is drawing and vice versa. Sometimes, we think one is different that than the other. But, it really is just another medium to use and convey the message of putting things on our canvas.

I have seen some beautiful, thinly painted paintings where I know the painter used just the brush and thin paint in the beginning. The reason it looks so good is that they know how to draw really well, especially with thin paint. If you paint thin, with oils in this instance, you need to have your drawing down correctly. You cannot hide any bad drawing when dealing with a thin medium.

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