# What's the difference between outlines after the sketch/preparatory drawing and line art without a sketch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209 "2023-10-06T20:37:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amber13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/amber13/32/13807_2.png) [@Amber13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber13)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/1 "2023-10-06T20:37:24Z")
There’s no difference between outlines and line art since they focus on the use of line, they’re different on they’re made, outlines are drawn after a sketch and preparatory drawing which drawn with outlines but not inked yet with ink that’s the opposite of tonal drawing like the old master drawings, etchings and engravings, the process of making drawn illustrations and making comics, while line art is drawing without doing a sketch and preparatory drawing like a doodle, is there a reason behind outlines made after a sketch and preparatory drawing or sketches and preparatory drawings with outlines and line art without a sketch or preparatory drawing? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/2 "2023-10-06T21:02:08Z")
Can you be more clear as to your intent? Is this for a copywrite infringement issue? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/3 "2023-10-06T21:05:07Z")
I’m sorry, when I read the thread title I wasn’t terribly clear on the question, but as I’m a pretty decent sketch artist and have been at various points in my meandering career, a designer, graphic artist and illustrator, I thought I could take a stab at answering your question once I read the OP. But after reading the post 3 times I can’t make heads or tails of what you’re asking. If you want to try to define your question a little more clearly, I’ll try answering later if I can. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/4 "2023-10-06T21:08:17Z")
I’m an artist. Sketch and doodle all the time. Can’t understand what you’re asking. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/5 "2023-10-06T21:23:45Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I’m a pretty decent sketch artist and have been at various points in my meandering career, a designer, graphic artist and illustrator… As have I been. Did it professionally for may years, and like you I haven’t a clue as to what’s being asked. I’ll be happy to provide any insight I can, if the OP returns to clarifie a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/6 "2023-10-06T21:38:58Z")
> [@Amber13](#): > > There’s no difference between outlines and line art since they focus on the use of line, they’re different on they’re made, > [@Amber13](#): > > is there a reason behind outlines made after a sketch and preparatory drawing or sketches and preparatory drawings with outlines and line art without a sketch or preparatory drawing? The OP is one long sentence that begins confusingly (first quote) and ends confusingly (second quote). Perhaps the poster could break the inquiry into several sentences and take greater care to avoid typos and missing words. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/7 "2023-10-06T21:43:59Z")
I used to teach sketching for UI development. In that use case, the point of a sketch is to get across essential ideas with minimal effort, so that they can be changed quickly. When brainstorming or getting buy-in for an interaction design, a sketch is very powerful in that it doesn’t inhibit people from suggesting wholesale changes. If you present a design as a neatly drawn line art that clearly had significant effort put into it, people will be hesitant to suggest large changes and are more likely to try to fix things on the margin. If you are trying to get buy-in for a navigation scheme or an interaction flow, and you provide high-fidelity mockups with active controls and color and all the lines in the right place, you find that people will start arguing all that stuff. So if you won’t want to talk about colors and line thicknesses and such, leave the design as a sketch that only shows the information you want to discuss and doesn’t distract stakeholders. Also, if you show a customer a mockup that looks ‘real’ they will assume you’ve made much more progress on coding than you actually have. More than once I’ve heard managers or customers tell me that a mockup was just right, and since it’s almost finished they want it by next week… Showing a rough sketch is therefore a more accurate way to get across what phase in the development cycle you are actually in. In pther forms of art, sketches are used for the same purpose - quick tests for action poses, a rough outline of a building, etc. Sketches are fast and temporary. Finished line art is not. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/8 "2023-10-06T21:57:06Z")
Here’s a wild-ass guess about a possible meaning. Suppose an art teacher gave this assignment: make a light pencil sketch and then ink over the sketch to produce the final art. (This is how most hand-drawn comics are created.) Now suppose one of the students didn’t do a preliminary sketch, but simply did a direct ink drawing. If that drawing looked similar to the other students’ drawings (done over pencil sketches) would the teacher have any reason to be upset or to downgrade that student? Just trying to understand the OP. 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/9 "2023-10-06T22:23:05Z")
Having had my fair share of run in with art teachers in school, I can see how this might very be the case (in my experience they can be petty)… But as long as the student turns in a decent representation of what the intent was, it shouldn’t matter. @Sam_Stone: While all that is true, it doesn’t seem to be relevant to the OP (in as much as I can determine what’s being asked). ---
**Author:** ![Amber13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/amber13/32/13807_2.png) [@Amber13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber13)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/10 "2023-10-06T22:37:56Z")
\*copyright, no, I was asking what’s between outlining over the sketch and line art without a sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/11 "2023-10-06T22:41:34Z")
> [@Amber13](#): > > \*copyright, no, I was asking what’s [the difference] between outlining over the sketch and line art without a sketch. Just that, one is “traced” the other is free-hand. The end product, though, is the same. ---
**Author:** ![Amber13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/amber13/32/13807_2.png) [@Amber13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber13)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/12 "2023-10-07T00:21:09Z")
I was talking about the technique of outlines done over the sketch that’s not tracing and line art without drawing a sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Xocomil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xocomil/32/14927_2.png) [@Xocomil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xocomil)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/13 "2023-10-07T02:07:59Z")
Are you asking why line art has a different name from outlining over a sketch if the techniques are effectively identical? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/14 "2023-10-07T03:17:11Z")
> [@](#): > > What’s the difference between outlines after the sketch/preparatory drawing and line art without a sketch? I’ve honestly done my best to understand what you’re after. Re-reading the OP heading above, it seems you are asking about the difference in the final drawings. Normally, if an image is drawn over a sketch, the sketch is erased. So the freehand drawing ends up looking the same as one drawn over a sketch. In other words - no difference. ---
**Author:** ![Amber13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/amber13/32/13807_2.png) [@Amber13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber13)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/15 "2023-10-07T05:10:31Z")
If the outlined drawing has shading and the line art is not done with no sketch and without shading, they’re focused on lines. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/16 "2023-10-07T05:16:55Z")
Incomprehensible. ---
**Author:** ![Amber13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/amber13/32/13807_2.png) [@Amber13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber13)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/17 "2023-10-07T05:57:33Z")
Sorry, I won’t ask like that again. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/18 "2023-10-07T06:14:27Z")
---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-outlines-after-the-sketch-preparatory-drawing-and-line-art-without-a-sketch/991209/19 "2023-10-07T06:16:49Z")
**Moderating** Since the OP is incomprehensible, and @Amber13 seems to be continuing her pattern of what appears to be intentional obfuscation when asked for clarification as she has done in other threads, this is closed.