croquis means A quick and sketchy drawing, often of a live model. Croquis drawings are usually made in a few minutes, after which the model changes pose and another croquis is drawn.
croquis is pronounced /kɹoʊˈkiː/.
Why “croquis” is a great word
A rapid, unpolished drawing, capturing a living subject through brief, direct observation. From French croquis (“sketch”), from the verb croquer (“to crunch, munch; to sketch hastily”), suggesting the swift, biting motion of the drawing tool. Unlike an esquisse, a more deliberate preliminary study, or a portrait, a finished rendering seeking likeness, a croquis is the raw seizure of a moment—the charcoal drag of a shadow across a ribcage, the five swift lines containing a gesture, the ghost of a pose arrested before it can shift. It is drawing not as depiction, but as the devouring of a fleeting presence.
noun
- A quick and sketchy drawing, often of a live model. Croquis drawings are usually made in a few minutes, after which the model changes pose and another croquis is drawn.
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