How Many Drawing Styles Are There - Complete List & Pictures - Enhance Drawing

7/13/22, 12:11 PM How Many Drawing Styles Are There?
Complete List & Pictures – Enhance Drawing
How Many Drawing Styles Are There?

Complete List & Pictures
As a beginner drawing artist trying to find his style, I needed some inspiration. So I wondered, how many
drawing styles exist today? And after hours of research and listing each drawing style, this is what I
found:
https://enhancedrawing.com/how-many-drawing-styles-are-there/ 1/25
7/13/22, 12:11 PM How Many Drawing Styles Are There? Complete List & Pictures – Enhance Drawing
There are 22 main drawing styles, ranging from realism and pop art to technical
drawing and cubism, from which many other drawing sub-styles emerge. Because all
drawing artists are different and there are many drawing tools, drawing sub-styles
are countless. New drawing styles are born every day.
Now you know the number, but not the drawing styles. If you would like to see the list of all main drawing
styles, you can find it below!
List Of All Main Drawing Styles

Here’s the list of the main drawing styles, including the century they started to appear and the country
they were born.
If you want to see pictures of each style, you can find them below the list!
Drawing Style First Appearance Country
1. Academic/Classical 16th Century Italy
2. Cartoon 19th Century United Kingdom
3. Manga 19th Century Japan
4. Comic 19th Century Switzerland
5. Sketching 73,000 years ago South Africa
6. Doodling 40,000 years ago France
7. Gestural 20th Century United States
8. Technical Drawing 15th Century Italy
9. Realism 19th Century France
10. Hyperrealism 20th Century United States
11. Line Drawing 73,000 years ago South Africa
12. Pointillism 19th Century France
13. Anamorphic 15th Century Italy
14. Fashion 16th Century France
15. Abstraction 12th Century China
16. Nouveau 19th Century France
17. Impressionism 19th Century France
18. Surrealism 20th Century France
19. Modernism 20th Century France
20. Pop Art 20th Century United Kingdom
21. Cubism 20th Century France
22. Art Deco 20th Century France
Each century includes a link that takes you to where I took the information. They also contain extra
knowledge about the style.
1. Academic Drawing
The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo
The academic drawing style is somewhat easy to identify once you see an example. Artists in the 15th
century and beyond used this drawing style a lot. But this drawing style started to be more prevalent
when art universities implemented this style to teach new artists at the beginning of the 16th century
during the renaissance. It is a very realistic drawing style.
2. Cartoon Style
Street Wall Cartoons
Cartoons. Everyone knows cartoons. This great drawing style was first introduced in the United Kingdom,
using very realistic images, but then changed through time to what we know now. Cartoonists explain that
to create cartoon characters, you begin from the character’s personality and emotions and then make a
drawing representing those vividly. This drawing style doesn’t have many strict rules, which is why almost
every cartoon you see is wholly different and unique, but you still understand it is a cartoon.
3. Anime / Manga Style
Fan art of Isaac and Miria I did 6 years ago.
The magical world of the manga drawing style started in Japan, increasing its popularity around the
globe, among other reasons. This drawing style is used to tell stories of any type, and if the story gets
popular, an animation studio creates an anime of it. An anime is to Japan what a cartoon is for The
United States.
Manga is my favorite drawing style!
4. Comic Style
Found in Unsplash – by Brett Jordan
The fantastic comic universe started in Switzerland and quickly became very popular globally. Just as
manga, the comic drawing style is also used to tell stories. Comics’ reach is immense, and we can see
how these old stories are still very relevant on the big screens. Comics are usually drawn section by
section, accompanied by texts.
5. Sketching
Sketching is usually how every drawing artist would start a drawing. It focuses on drawing shapes and
guidelines without adding much detail. Once the sketch is ready, the artist defines every line and adds
every necessary element to the drawing. Although this is more of a drawing process than a style, many
artists prefer leaving their creations as sketches.
6. Doodling
Doodling is a style that represents the unconscious creativity of an artist. Unlike sketches, doodlings are
usually a finished drawing. The creation of a doodle requires a task occupying your mind. If your attention
shifts to the drawing process, then you are not doodling. One great way to practice doodling is to listen to
a podcast, talk, or audiobook and start doodling while you are still focused on what you’re listening, and
not what you’re doing.
7. Gestural Drawing
The gestural drawing style consists of drawing poses from a person or a figure. Drawing artists use this
style to improve their understanding of the human body or any other study object they want to learn.
Typically, artists finish a gestural drawing in as short as 10 seconds and as long as 5 minutes.
8. Technical Drawing
Technical drawing is one the most precise and accurate styles, and it helps significantly in the
architectural and engineering industries. This drawing style is a great way to learn about perspective.
9. Realism
Keeping drawing into the real world is also another style. Here we want to focus on precisely what’s in
front of us and make a drawing representing the person, animal, or object as accurately as possible.
10.Hyperrealism
You wouldn’t believe this is a drawing if I showed you the finished piece without the process. One of the
artist I admire the most: Sensazioni, by Diego Koi.
You thought realism was enough for artists? Well, it isn’t. After realism, there is hyperrealism. This style
focuses on drawing almost like a printer or a camera and draw even the smallest details. Here, artists
study how our eyes conceive reality.
11. Line Drawing
The line art style is very self-explanatory. It refers to drawings made with lines only. Here, the focus is to
use a line with the same length and tone and form a figure with it. Most line drawings are usually
monochromatic, but you can use lines of different colors as well.
12. Pointillism
A deer (my favorite animal) drawn by an extraordinary woman as

a gift for me. Thank you, Diana Pardo!
Pointillism is a painting/drawing technique in which artists form images using only dots. These dots can
be in any color or pattern but must ideally resemble a real figure.
An interesting fact about this technique’s name is that when it was first presented, the art
critics of the time called it Pointillism to make fun of the method. Still, it ended up being an
exceptionally respected art movement.
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13. Anamorphic Drawing
Anamorphic drawing seen from three different perspectives.
Anamorphosis illustrations are drawings that can only be well-seen from a specific angle. If you see them
from the incorrect angle, you will only see an unproportionate drawing. Leonardo da Vinci drew an
anamorphic eye using this technique; you can see it in the 8-seconds video below!
Leonardo's Eye -Illusion
14. Fashion Drawing
Before everyone had a camera, people needed a way to represent how clothing would look like on them,
so the fashion drawing style was born. The main focus here is the clothing, and bodies are usually
elongated.
15. Abstract Drawing
Abstract art represents something that may exist but is not completely real—the logic behind it’s to
attempt to produce a visual illusion of reality.
Of course, art itself is a representation of how one sees the world, so abstract art has no limits
and can be entirely different from artist to artist.
16. Art Nouveau
Zodiac Calendar by Alphonse Mucha
Art Nouveau was an artistic movement that focused on shapes and movement. To draw using this
technique, the artist gathers forms of natural objects like plants and flowers and applies them throughout
the drawing. Asymmetry is usual in this drawing style.
17. Impressionism
Claude Monet, Impression, soleil levant
Although this is more of a painting style than a drawing style, impressionism couldn’t be taken away from
this list. Its primary focus was to focus on light and its changing qualities and make the piece feel like it
has movement.
18. Surrealism
Max Ernst, The Elephant Celebes, 1921
Surrealism is a form of art that combines different objects from the real world to create something that is
not conceivable. A surrealist drawing has the purpose of evoking one’s imagination and make you go to
another reality, called by André Breton as a “superreality”.
19. Modernism
Henri Matisse, The Dance, 1910
Modernism indeed was almost a combination of everything, in a reaction to realism and its teachings.
Modernism focused on creating something new all the time, so nearly anything that presented something
new at the time could have been considered modernism. Most of the paintings and drawings of this
movement were abstract.
20. Pop Art
Pop Art, then, was the reaction to modernism and post-modernism. It aimed to exploit popular images
and mass produce them as marketing or comic books. It wanted to be entirely away from the elitist art,
which was only enjoyed by a few, and create art that the masses would like.
21. Cubism
Pablo Picasso, 1910, Girl with a Mandolin
Cubism is very interesting, and how to create a drawing using the cubist style is kind of easy to follow.
The focus of cubism is to take an object, analyze and then broke it into pieces. Once you do that,
abstractly reassemble everything. Why see an object from a single perspective if you can see in all of
them at once? That was cubism.
22. Art Deco
Did you ever watch the last version of The Great Gatsby? That movie is a full representation of art deco.
This drawing style is a combination of modern styles and rich materials. Its main goal is to illustrate
glamour, luxury, exuberance, and faith in technological and social progress.
Did you find any drawing style that you liked?
Share it in the comments, I’d love to hear it. Also, if you would like me to add information or pictures of
other drawings styles, let me know!
Sebastian Ardila
Hey, I'm Sebastian, and I've been drawing for 15 years. I share tips, tutorials, and interesting facts about
drawing to help you enhance your drawing skills. You can learn more about me by clicking my name.
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7/13/22, 12:11 PM How Many Drawing Styles Are There?

Complete List & Pictures – Enhance Drawing

How Many Drawing Styles Are There?

List Of All Main Drawing Styles

Drawing Style First Appearance Country

1. Academic/Classical 16th Century Italy

2. Cartoon 19th Century United Kingdom

3. Manga 19th Century Japan

4. Comic 19th Century Switzerland

5. Sketching 73,000 years ago South Africa

6. Doodling 40,000 years ago France

7. Gestural 20th Century United States

8. Technical Drawing 15th Century Italy

9. Realism 19th Century France

10. Hyperrealism 20th Century United States

11. Line Drawing 73,000 years ago South Africa

12. Pointillism 19th Century France

13. Anamorphic 15th Century Italy

14. Fashion 16th Century France

15. Abstraction 12th Century China

16. Nouveau 19th Century France

17. Impressionism 19th Century France

18. Surrealism 20th Century France

19. Modernism 20th Century France

20. Pop Art 20th Century United Kingdom

21. Cubism 20th Century France

22. Art Deco 20th Century France

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

Street Wall Cartoons

3. Anime / Manga Style

Fan art of Isaac and Miria I did 6 years ago.

Manga is my favorite drawing style!

Found in Unsplash – by Brett Jordan

11. Line Drawing

A deer (my favorite animal) drawn by an extraordinary woman as

Connect with your friends

keep up with friends and family!

13. Anamorphic Drawing

Anamorphic drawing seen from three different perspectives.

Leonardo's Eye -Illusion

14. Fashion Drawing

15. Abstract Drawing

16. Art Nouveau

Zodiac Calendar by Alphonse Mucha

Claude Monet, Impression, soleil levant

Max Ernst, The Elephant Celebes, 1921

Henri Matisse, The Dance, 1910

20. Pop Art

Pablo Picasso, 1910, Girl with a Mandolin

22. Art Deco

Did you find any drawing style that you liked?

How To Know If You're Good At Drawing? & Be Sure About It

Terms and Conditions

© 2022 Copyright Enhance Drawing

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