Line-and-wash Drawing

line-and-wash drawing, also called Pen-and-wash Drawing, in the visual arts, a drawing marked out by pen or some similar instrument and then tinted with diluted ink or watercolour. In 13th-century China, artists used transparent ink washes to create delicate atmospheric effects. The line-and-wash technique was practiced in Europe from the Renaissance, and in the early 15th century Cennino Cennini gave detailed instructions for reinforcing a pen drawing with the brush. The technique entered into common use in the 16th century and reached its height in the 17th century in the works of Rembrandt, Claude Lorrain, Nicolas Poussin, and a host of Italian artists. The technique was freely used to make preparatory sketches for paintings, with the pen line providing accurate detail and the coloured washes (or brushstrokes) suggesting tone, volume, and atmosphere.

The line-and-wash technique was also used in the topographical drawings of the 18th century and in drawings of buildings, and it was widely recommended in textbooks on sketching. By the early 19th century an emphasis on spontaneity and the free expression of emotion had led to the increasing use of direct colour with little or no underdrawing. Line-and-wash drawing nevertheless continued to attract many artists and is still a common form of graphic expression. See also wash drawing.