Sketch of a Woman

About this work

This sketch shows a woman sitting sideways, her body turned slightly away. She’s wrapped in a heavy coat with a fur collar, and her hands rest on her lap or the arm of a chair. The lines are loose and quick, with dark ink shading her face and clothes. A pillow or cushion behind her head has a simple design. The artist used lots of small, crisscrossed lines to build up shadows—this is called cross-hatching. It gives the drawing texture, even though it’s just ink on paper. Next, check out cross-hatching to see how other artists used this technique.