Drawing shares with other words in this list the meaning of a representation by lines or shadings. A sketch is a drawing usually showing only the chief features of the object depicted; sketches are often rough or incomplete drawings and are sometimes used as bases for later elaboration into finished paintings or the like. Portrait painters often draw several sketches of their subjects before beginning a portrait in oils.

Cartoon is popularly known as a drawing appearing in a newspaper or other periodical and often having humorous or satirical intent. However, the word also refers to a full-size sketch for a fresco, mural or the like, and is often quite detailed and elaborate. Cartoons are much prized by art historians and collectors as records of the plans and progress of famous works, as well as for their own beauty.

A diagram is either a generalized drawing made for scientific, mathematical, technological or similar purposes, such as the diagrams in a science book; or a design, such as a graph or chart in the form of a drawing which represents certain relationships by analogy rather than by literal depiction.

Illustration is applied to any drawing , whether a depiction or a diagram , which helps make clear the subject matter of a book or article, aids the telling of a story, or decorates a publication. More widely, the word can indicate any graphic material or art work that accompanies a printed text: the well-known photographer who did the book’s illustrations .