Drawing has long been revered as the most basic skill of the artist and as the foundation of all other arts, for it is in the act of drawing that the artist's creativity finds its first impression. This book traces the historical development of all the major techniques of drawing in European art from the 15th to the 19th centuries, including metalpoint, charcoal, natural chalk, pastel, crayon, graphite, pen and ink, watercolour and gouache. The text is illustrated with examples from the magnificent collection of drawings at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, which includes works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt van Rijn, J.M.W. Turner and Edgar Degas.