Drawing is a form of visual art in which a person uses various drawing instruments to mark paper or another two-dimensional medium. Instruments include graphite pencils and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, charcoal, pastels, various kinds of erasers, markers and various metals. Digital drawing is the act of using a computer to draw. Common methods of digital drawing include a stylus or finger on a touchscreen device, stylus- or finger-to-touchpad, or in some cases, a mouse. There are many digital art devices. A drawing instrument releases a small amount of material onto a surface; the most common support for drawing is paper, although other materials, such as cardboard, plastic, leather and board, may be used. Temporary drawings may be made on a blackboard or whiteboard or indeed anything; the medium has been a fundamental means of public expression throughout human history. It is one of most efficient means of communicating visual ideas; the wide availability of drawing instruments makes drawing one of the most common artistic activities.

In addition to its more artistic forms, drawing is used in commercial illustration, architecture and technical drawing. A quick, freehand drawing not intended as a finished work, is sometimes called a sketch. An artist who practices or works in technical drawing may be called a drafter, draftsman or a draughtsman. Drawing is one of the oldest forms of human expression within the visual arts, it is concerned with the marking of lines and areas of tone onto paper/other material, where the accurate representation of the visual world is expressed upon a plane surface. Traditional drawings were monochrome, or at least had little colour, while modern colored-pencil drawings may approach or cross a boundary between drawing and painting. In Western terminology, drawing is distinct from painting though similar media are employed in both tasks. Dry media associated with drawing, such as chalk, may be used in pastel paintings. Drawing may be done with a liquid medium, applied with pens. Similar supports can serve both: painting involves the application of liquid paint onto prepared canvas or panels, but sometimes an underdrawing is drawn first on that same support.

Drawing is exploratory, with considerable emphasis on observation, problem-solving and composition. Drawing is regularly used in preparation for a painting, further obfuscating their distinction. Drawings created. There are several categories of drawing, including figure drawing, cartooning and freehand. There are many drawing methods, such as line drawing, shading, the surrealist method of entopic graphomania, tracing. A quick, unrefined drawing may be called a sketch. In fields outside art, technical drawings or plans of buildings, machinery and other things are called "drawings" when they have been transferred to another medium by printing. Drawing is one of the oldest forms of human expression, with evidence for its existence preceding that of written communication, it is believed that drawing was used as a specialised form of communication before the invention of the written language, demonstrated by the production of cave and rock paintings around 30,000 years ago. These drawings, known as pictograms, depicted abstract concepts.

The sketches and paintings produced by Neolithic times were stylised and simplified in to symbol systems and into early writing systems. Before the widespread availability of paper, 12th-century monks in European monasteries used intricate drawings to prepare illustrated, illuminated manuscripts on vellum and parchment. Drawing has been used extensively in the field of science, as a method of discovery and explanation. Drawing diagrams of observations is an important part of scientific study. In 1609, astronomer Galileo Galilei explained the changing phases of Venus and the sunspots through his observational telescopic drawings. In 1924, geophysicist Alfred Wegener used illustrations to visually demonstrate the origin of the continents. Drawing is used to express one's creativity, therefore has been prominent in the world of art. Throughout much of history, drawing was regarded as the foundation for artistic practice. Artists used and reused wooden tablets for the production of their drawings.

Following the widespread availability of paper in the 14th century, the use of drawing in the arts increased. At this point, drawing was used as a tool for thought and investigation, acting as a study medium whilst artists were preparing for their final pieces of work; the Renaissance brought about a great sophistication in drawing techniques, enabling artists to represent things more realistically than before, revealing an interest in geometry and philosophy. The invention of the first available form of photography led to a shift in the hierarchy of the arts. Photography offered an alternative to drawing as a method for representing visual phenomena, traditional drawing practice was given less emphasis as an essential skill for artists so in Western society. Drawing became significant as an art form around the late 15th century, with artists and master engravers such as Albrecht Dürer and Martin Sch

Rand-Avery known as Rand, Avery, & Company was a printing company in Boston during the 19th century. The company went bankrupt in 1888. Rand Avery Supply Co. continued into the 20th century. George Curtis Rand established Avery & Company, he was related to William Rand, one of the founding members of Rand, McNally & Company, Franklin Rand, publisher of the Zion's Herald. Promoter and controversial muckracker Tom Lawson took over the firm and liquidated it after losing a battle with its directors; the company occupied several buildings including 117 Franklin. The firm printed sailing cards and sightseeing guides for rail passengers, area histories. In 1860, the firm was a printer for Walt Whitman; the firm printed the first edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was one of the printers of Mark Twain's the Pauper, it published Edwin M. Bacon's Dictionary of Boston in 1883 and included an advertisement insert with an engraved drawing of a printing operation, it printed a herald for the London Circus. The company printed documents for railroads including maps.

Moses King worked at the firm before moving on to establish his own printing compamy

Four Hours to Kill! is a 1935 American drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Richard Barthelmess. Taft, a policeman, has fugitive murderer Tony Mako in custody and in handcuffs, two thousand miles from the prison from which Mako escaped. With four hours to kill, Taft takes his prisoner to a theater where the cop's wife, Mae, is a hostess. Mae is an unfaithful schemer, she is trying to extort $200 from coat-check kid Eddie. Eddie doesn't want his fiancee Helen to hear this, true or otherwise, so he tries to raise the money to pay Mae's blackmail. Eddie is suspected of stealing an expensive piece of jewelry. Mako made the journey this far in the hope of gaining revenge against Anderson, a man who informed on him. After telling Taft he would prefer a quick death to a painful execution, Mako breaks free and shoots Anderson before being shot by Taft, dying the kind of death he wanted. Eddie is now free to marry Helen, while Mae is taken away to jail. Richard Barthelmess as Tony Mako Joe Morrison as Eddie Gertrude Michael as Mrs. Sylvia Temple Helen Mack as Helen Dorothy Tree as Mae Danish Roscoe Karns as Johnson Ray Milland as Carl Barrett Charles C. Wilson as Taft Henry Travers as Mac Mason Noel Madison as Anderson Paul Harvey as Capt. Seaver Olive Tell as Mrs. Madison Lee Kohlmar as Pa Herman Paramount bought the film rights to the stage play in December 1934.

The New York Times called it "a gripping, although theatrical, melodrama with a neatly dovetailed plot, a uniformly excellent cast and well paceed direction". In 1944 Paramount Pictures announced it would create a new film adaptation of Small Miracle, the play, the basis of Four Hours to Kill. Leisen was to direct the new version; the project was not realized. In 1947 Jack LaRue presented a stage version. Four Hours to Kill! on IMDb Four Hours to Kill at TCMDB Four Hours to Kill! Review at Mystery File Review of film at Variety