NYSTCE Visual Arts Exam 2025
Questions and Answers 100% Pass
Drawing in the Middle Ages - ✔✔-Mostly used as preparation for paintings
-Done on animal skin, wood, wax, or slate
-Some artists used drawings as a record instead of working from a live model
-Some artists would complete finished drawings as illuminations for manuscripts
Drawing during Pre-history - ✔✔-Used on cave walls as early as 10,000 BCE
-Cave paintings used to express ideas and scenes
Drawing during the Renaissance - ✔✔-Drawing became more widely used due to the
increase in the availability of paper
-Students were taught how to draw before painting or sculpting
-Used to study nature, record anatomy
-Drawing materials used: pen and ink, black and red charcoal
Drawing in Baroque period - ✔✔More expressive and less exact than Renaissance
drawings
Pencils - ✔✔-First manufactured in the 1800's, became a widely used drawing tool
-Range in hardness from 10H to 10B
COPYRIGHT © 2025 BY GRACE AMELIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1
,-Greater detail than charcoal
Origins of Drawing - ✔✔- Prehistory: used on cave walls as early as 10,000 B.C.,
expressed ideas and scenes
- Middle Ages: used to prepare for paintings; completed on animal skins, wood, wax, or
stone; kept as a record; come were completed as illuminations for manuscripts
- Renaissance: became a more widely used art form as paper become more readily
available; artists would learn to draw before other media; considered a preliminary
step; used to study and record nature and anatomy; used pen and ink, black and red
charcoal
- 1500-1600s: artists began creating drawings as finished works; Dürer, Holbein the
Younger, Rembrandt; drawing became an accepted medium
Charcoal - ✔✔- Drawing material made from slowly burned wood
- Used for cave drawings
- Lightweight
- Found in stick or pencil form
- Compressed - hard
- Vine- soft, delicate
- Often used for large gesture drawings or as underdrawing
Red Chalk - ✔✔- Drawing material made from iron oxide pigment and refined clay
- Popular in the 16th and 17th century
- Used by Da Vinci in the Renaissance
Black Chalk - ✔✔- Drawing material made of carbonaceous shale
COPYRIGHT © 2025 BY GRACE AMELIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2
,- Softer than red chalk
- Used in 15th century Italy for underdrawings for ink and metalpoint
- Used by Dürer and van Dyck
White Chalk - ✔✔- Made of calcium carbonate or soapstone
- Used to make highlights
Conté Crayons - ✔✔- Developed in the 1800's
- Traditionally made in red, black, and white
- Harder than chalk and produce smoother lines
Graphite - ✔✔- Form of carbon
- Discovered in the 1500s
- Later encased in wood to make pencils
Ink - ✔✔- Liquid pigment
- Used with a pen or brush
- Commonly used for writing
Pen - ✔✔- First made from bird feathers and reeds; quills
- Later created with metal tips
Tortillon - ✔✔A tightly rolled paper stump that is used for blending drawings
Maulstick (or Mahlstick) - ✔✔A stick with a padded head used to rest and support the
hand while drawing or painting to keep it steady
Kinds of Erasers - ✔✔- Kneaded: can be manipulated and rolled into small sizes, will
not leave crumbs, lifts pigment to lighten value
COPYRIGHT © 2025 BY GRACE AMELIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3
, - Gum: yellow/tan, crumbles, best for large areas
- Pink: firmer and more precise, still leaves crumbs
Dry Cleaning Pad - ✔✔A fabric bag filled with pieces of eraser that can be used to clean
up fingerprints, smudges, and dust from larger areas on the paper
Parchment - ✔✔- Drawing surface made from animal skin
- Used in the Middle Ages
Paper - ✔✔- First created in China 105 AD but wasn't widely used until the 1800's
- Comes in hot pressed or cold pressed
Hot-Pressed Paper - ✔✔Smooth, allows for more detail and better control of pencil
marks
Cold-Pressed Paper - ✔✔Textured, better suited for looser drawings/mediums
Sketch Paper / Newsprint - ✔✔Thinner than drawing paper, used for sketching
Illustration Board - ✔✔Thicker cardboard with a hot-pressed or cold-pressed surface
Archival Paper - ✔✔Acid-Free, should not deteriorate or discolor over time
Contour Drawing - ✔✔A line drawing that defines the outer and inner shapes of forms;
does not include any shading
Blind Contour Drawing - ✔✔A contour drawing created without looking at the paper;
used to strengthen hand-eye coordination
Gesture Drawing - ✔✔Technique used to capture the action and form of a model or
subject; completed in 30-60 seconds
COPYRIGHT © 2025 BY GRACE AMELIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4
Questions and Answers 100% Pass
Drawing in the Middle Ages - ✔✔-Mostly used as preparation for paintings
-Done on animal skin, wood, wax, or slate
-Some artists used drawings as a record instead of working from a live model
-Some artists would complete finished drawings as illuminations for manuscripts
Drawing during Pre-history - ✔✔-Used on cave walls as early as 10,000 BCE
-Cave paintings used to express ideas and scenes
Drawing during the Renaissance - ✔✔-Drawing became more widely used due to the
increase in the availability of paper
-Students were taught how to draw before painting or sculpting
-Used to study nature, record anatomy
-Drawing materials used: pen and ink, black and red charcoal
Drawing in Baroque period - ✔✔More expressive and less exact than Renaissance
drawings
Pencils - ✔✔-First manufactured in the 1800's, became a widely used drawing tool
-Range in hardness from 10H to 10B
COPYRIGHT © 2025 BY GRACE AMELIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1
,-Greater detail than charcoal
Origins of Drawing - ✔✔- Prehistory: used on cave walls as early as 10,000 B.C.,
expressed ideas and scenes
- Middle Ages: used to prepare for paintings; completed on animal skins, wood, wax, or
stone; kept as a record; come were completed as illuminations for manuscripts
- Renaissance: became a more widely used art form as paper become more readily
available; artists would learn to draw before other media; considered a preliminary
step; used to study and record nature and anatomy; used pen and ink, black and red
charcoal
- 1500-1600s: artists began creating drawings as finished works; Dürer, Holbein the
Younger, Rembrandt; drawing became an accepted medium
Charcoal - ✔✔- Drawing material made from slowly burned wood
- Used for cave drawings
- Lightweight
- Found in stick or pencil form
- Compressed - hard
- Vine- soft, delicate
- Often used for large gesture drawings or as underdrawing
Red Chalk - ✔✔- Drawing material made from iron oxide pigment and refined clay
- Popular in the 16th and 17th century
- Used by Da Vinci in the Renaissance
Black Chalk - ✔✔- Drawing material made of carbonaceous shale
COPYRIGHT © 2025 BY GRACE AMELIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2
,- Softer than red chalk
- Used in 15th century Italy for underdrawings for ink and metalpoint
- Used by Dürer and van Dyck
White Chalk - ✔✔- Made of calcium carbonate or soapstone
- Used to make highlights
Conté Crayons - ✔✔- Developed in the 1800's
- Traditionally made in red, black, and white
- Harder than chalk and produce smoother lines
Graphite - ✔✔- Form of carbon
- Discovered in the 1500s
- Later encased in wood to make pencils
Ink - ✔✔- Liquid pigment
- Used with a pen or brush
- Commonly used for writing
Pen - ✔✔- First made from bird feathers and reeds; quills
- Later created with metal tips
Tortillon - ✔✔A tightly rolled paper stump that is used for blending drawings
Maulstick (or Mahlstick) - ✔✔A stick with a padded head used to rest and support the
hand while drawing or painting to keep it steady
Kinds of Erasers - ✔✔- Kneaded: can be manipulated and rolled into small sizes, will
not leave crumbs, lifts pigment to lighten value
COPYRIGHT © 2025 BY GRACE AMELIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3
, - Gum: yellow/tan, crumbles, best for large areas
- Pink: firmer and more precise, still leaves crumbs
Dry Cleaning Pad - ✔✔A fabric bag filled with pieces of eraser that can be used to clean
up fingerprints, smudges, and dust from larger areas on the paper
Parchment - ✔✔- Drawing surface made from animal skin
- Used in the Middle Ages
Paper - ✔✔- First created in China 105 AD but wasn't widely used until the 1800's
- Comes in hot pressed or cold pressed
Hot-Pressed Paper - ✔✔Smooth, allows for more detail and better control of pencil
marks
Cold-Pressed Paper - ✔✔Textured, better suited for looser drawings/mediums
Sketch Paper / Newsprint - ✔✔Thinner than drawing paper, used for sketching
Illustration Board - ✔✔Thicker cardboard with a hot-pressed or cold-pressed surface
Archival Paper - ✔✔Acid-Free, should not deteriorate or discolor over time
Contour Drawing - ✔✔A line drawing that defines the outer and inner shapes of forms;
does not include any shading
Blind Contour Drawing - ✔✔A contour drawing created without looking at the paper;
used to strengthen hand-eye coordination
Gesture Drawing - ✔✔Technique used to capture the action and form of a model or
subject; completed in 30-60 seconds
COPYRIGHT © 2025 BY GRACE AMELIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4
