preliminary sketch
Artist's first attempt
A preliminary sketch is a rough drawing made early in the creative process, before the finished work.
Artists use preliminary sketches to explore composition, test ideas, and work out problems: The museum displayed several preliminary sketches alongside the final painting.
The term applies beyond visual art to any early draft or outline of a project.
- rough draftUnpolished first attempt
- first draftEarliest written version
- rough outlineUnpolished preliminary plan
- outlineSummary of key elements
- concept artPreliminary design illustrations
thumbnail · doodle · quick study · study · underdrawing · gesture · composition · pencil · charcoal · notebook · canvas · erasure · blocking · layout · working drawing · first pass · trial run · mockup
- sketchespencil drawings, doodle, thumbnail, sketchbooks, rough draft
- preliminarieswarmup, warm-up, qualifying exam, intro, preface
- portrait sketchingself-portrait, likeness, pencil drawings, shading, cross-hatching
- short fictionshort stories, microfiction, tales, flash fiction, fables
- Portrait Termspose, profile, bust, headshot, likeness
- unfinished worksrough draft, first draft, work in progress, working draft, abandoned project
preliminary, preliminarily, preliminaries, sketch, sketches, sketched, sketching, sketchy, sketchily