A Padlock

David, Sir Wilkie

1813

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Romanticism Early 19th Century

About this work

This sketch shows a simple padlock hanging from a keyring. The lines are rough and uneven, made with quick strokes of brown ink. The paper has a light, slightly textured background that makes the dark lines stand out. The artist used a lot of small parallel lines to build up shadows and shapes—this is called cross-hatching. It gives the drawing a scratchy, almost sketchy feel. Look up cross-hatching to see how other artists used this technique.