Etching vs. Drawing — What's the Difference?

Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types of material.

Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, erasers, markers, styluses, and metals (such as silverpoint).

The art of preparing etched plates, especially metal plates, from which designs and pictures are printed.

The act or an instance of drawing.

A design etched on a plate.

The art of representing objects or forms on a surface chiefly by means of lines.

An impression made from an etched plate.

A work produced by this art.

(uncountable) The art of producing an image from a metal plate into which an image or text has been etched with acid.

Present participle of draw

(countable) The image created by this process.

A picture, likeness, diagram or representation, usually drawn on paper.

Present participle of etch

The act of producing such a picture.

A design carried out by means of the above process; a pattern on metal, glass, etc., produced by etching.

Such acts practiced as a graphic art form.

An impression on paper, parchment, or other material, taken in ink from an etched plate.

The process of drawing or pulling something.

An impression made from an etched plate

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.

An etched plate made with the use of acid

A small portion of tea for steeping.

Making engraved or etched plates and printing designs from them

The act of pulling, or attracting.

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.

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.

The process of pulling out and elongating the sliver from the carding machine, by revolving rollers, to prepare it for spinning.

The distribution of prizes and blanks in a lottery.

An illustration that is drawn by hand and published in a book or magazine;

A representation of forms or objects on a surface by means of lines;

The creation of artistic drawings;

Players buy (or are given) chances and prizes are distributed according to the drawing of lots

Act of getting or draining something such as electricity or a liquid from a source;

The act of moving a load by drawing or pulling