Drawing vs. Illustration
The main difference between Drawing and Illustration is that Drawing is a way to display visual self-expressions often by two-dimension, whereas Illustration is a way to display a visual presentation to highlight the particular text that has a commercial value.

Key Differences
A drawing depicts a message even by standing alone. However, an illustration always needs some text that can assist or accompany it.
Drawing refers to personal art because it is a talent of the artist to exhibit his thoughts and imaginations, On the flip side, illustration refers to professional art as it is a paid profession of a visual explanation of the text.
Drawing is a type of self-expression in which a person can express his feelings, whereas writers and publishers authorize illustration.
The artist, during a drawing, can use imagination at its peak. Conversely, an illustrator is not allowed to do so and can only use his imagination as close to the concerned text as possible.
Drawing refers to an artwork in which things can be displayed on a plane mostly by using lines. However, Illustration is a visual presentation or picture that represents text, books, newspapers, and stories, etc.
Drawing is art with restricted commercial value, while the commercial value of illustration is more.
Drawing is an independent expression, whereas illustration is a dependent expression.
Comparison Chart
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It is an art that displays objects on a surface by mostly using lines
It is a visual presentation or picture that represents text, books, newspapers, and stories, etc
Dependency
It can stand alone
It needs the text to accompany it
Imagination
Not limited
Limited according to text
Expression
Independent expression
Dependent expression
Drawing and Illustration Definitions
Drawing
The act or an instance of drawing.
Illustration
The act of illustrating or the state of being illustrated
Concepts that would benefit from illustration.
An idea that lends itself to illustration.
Drawing
The art of representing objects or forms on a surface chiefly by means of lines.
Illustration
A picture or image that is used to decorate or clarify a text.
Drawing
A work produced by this art.
Illustration
An example that is used to clarify or explain something.
Drawing
Present participle of draw
Illustration
(Obsolete) Illumination.
Drawing
A picture, likeness, diagram or representation, usually drawn on paper.
Illustration
The act of illustrating; the act of making clear and distinct;
Drawing
The act of producing such a picture.
Illustration
The state of being illustrated, or of being made clear and distinct.
Drawing
Such acts practiced as a graphic art form.
Illustration
Something which illustrates; a comparison or example intended to make clear or apprehensible, or to remove obscurity.
Drawing
The process of drawing or pulling something.
Proverb: An official is great in his office as a well is rich in drawings of water.
Illustration
A picture designed to decorate a publication, or elucidate a literary work.
The illustration showing the water cycle made it much easier to understand for the children.
The sleeve of the band's new CD includes illustrations from deceased former members.
Drawing
An act or event in which the outcome (e.g., designating a winner) is selected by chance in the form of a blind draw, notably of lots; especially such a contest in which a winning name or number is selected randomly by removing (or drawing) it from a container, popularly a hat.
Illustration
A calculated prevision of insurance premiums and returns (life insurance)
Drawing
A small portion of tea for steeping.
Illustration
The act of illustrating; the act of making clear and distinct; education; also, the state of being illustrated, or of being made clear and distinct.
Drawing
The act of pulling, or attracting.
Illustration
That which illustrates; a comparison or example intended to make clear or apprehensible, or to remove obscurity.
Drawing
The act or the art of representing any object by means of lines and shades; especially, such a representation when in one color, or in tints used not to represent the colors of natural objects, but for effect only, and produced with hard material such as pencil, chalk, etc.; delineation; also, the figure or representation drawn.
Illustration
A picture designed to decorate a volume or elucidate a literary work.
Drawing
The process of stretching or spreading metals as by hammering, or, as in forming wire from rods or tubes and cups from sheet metal, by pulling them through dies.
Illustration
Artwork that helps make something clear or attractive
Drawing
The process of pulling out and elongating the sliver from the carding machine, by revolving rollers, to prepare it for spinning.
Illustration
Showing by example
Drawing
The distribution of prizes and blanks in a lottery.
Illustration
An item of information that is representative of a type;
This patient provides a typical example of the syndrome
There is an example on page 10
Drawing
An illustration that is drawn by hand and published in a book or magazine;
It is shown by the drawing in Fig. 7
Illustration
A visual representation (a picture or diagram) that is used make some subject more pleasing or easier to understand
Drawing
A representation of forms or objects on a surface by means of lines;
Drawings of abstract forms
He did complicated pen-and-ink drawings like medieval miniatures
Drawing
The creation of artistic drawings;
He learned drawing from his father
Drawing
Players buy (or are given) chances and prizes are distributed according to the drawing of lots
Drawing
Act of getting or draining something such as electricity or a liquid from a source;
The drawing of water from the well
Drawing
The act of moving a load by drawing or pulling
Drawing vs. Illustration
Drawing is a type of self-expression in which a person can express his feelings, whereas writers and publishers authorize illustration. Drawing refers to an artwork in which things can be displayed on a plane mostly by using lines. However, Illustration is a visual presentation or picture that represents text, books, newspapers, and stories, etc. Drawing is art with restricted commercial value, while the commercial value of illustration is more. Some other kinds of arts like painting, drawing is used to shape or outline the picture. The readers can picture the character of the story by picturizing them through illustrations, and it can also represent a particular concept or idea in a book.
A drawing depicts a message even by standing alone. However, an illustration always needs some text that can assist or accompany it. Drawing refers to personal art because it is a talent of the artist to exhibit his thoughts and imaginations, but illustration refers to professional art as it is a paid profession of a visual explanation of the text. The artist, during a drawing, can use imagination at its peak while an illustrator is not allowed to do so and can only use his imagination as close to the concerned text as possible but not more than that.
Drawing brings ideas, perspectives, and imaginations into existence on a surface, while illustration accentuates the text that is essential to deliver to the readers. Drawing can be the source of an illustration and images, whereas drawings, sketches, and photographs can be sources of illustration.
What is Drawing?
Drawing is a type of visual expression of art in which an artist picture an object by using different instruments and medium. Many instruments can be used for drawing, which includes pencils, brushes, erasers, graphite pencils, various metals, charcoal, stylus, chalk, various kinds of paints, crayons, pastels, and markers. Observation and composition are required for drawing to display fine artistry in detail on a paper. Paper is the standard surface for drawing as well as wood, canvas, plastic, board, and leather materials. Moreover, other forms of drawing are also present in animation, illustration, architecture, and engineering.
Free play drawings ad quick and not considered as finished art is a ‘sketch.’ A draftsman is the professional artist of technical drawings while drawing an artist py more attention towards the artistic presentation or interpretation of a certain object. Like, in reality, the drawing might not be able to copy a content matter. Primarily drawings depict the thoughts, feelings, and sentiments that are raised inside an artist. Various methods of drawing include stippling, shading, tracing, and line drawing. The drawing contains a more artistic value and a restricted commercial value as it is a kind of self-expression.
What is Illustration?`
An illustration serves as a method that perceptibly delivers an object’s visual presentation. Illustrators present it by the ways of painting, drawing, diagram, or photograph. An illustration is an enhancement, visual explanation, and clarification of a process, theory, or text illustrated for the incorporation in publications of media including films, games, novels, posters, books, flyers, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, animations, and video games. It imparts emphasis to feature or highlight a specific text to provide a visual explanation. The perception of the illustration is as near to the text and seldom produced without exploiting the viewer’s impression they will get.
In history, the cave carvings and paintings were the initial illustrations, but nowadays, illustrations have developed as far as the high-tech illustrations come into existence via smart pieces of machinery by using graphics. The illustration is the only way by which the story can be illustrated in a better way through the characters with faces and bodies that are present in the stories and to visually explain the concepts in books. Linocut, paintings, engraving, and etchings in the books are also part of the illustration. Illustrations are not just dependent or restricted to visual explanations of objects that are present in life, but it also includes tables, graphs, diagrams, and charts, etc.