Pathfinder 1E What skill for drawing?

[koesherbacon]

What skill would I use for drawing or sketching? Craft (Calligraphy) seems to be the best option since it involves penmanship and intricately detailed writing. Is there another option you'd recommend?

 

[Stormonu]

I would think it would more likely be a Perform subskill.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Pathfinder doesn't specify Craft subspecialties the way it does with Knowledge skills. I'd just say Craft (Drawing).

 

[Wicht]

Yes, Craft (drawing), or Craft (illustration).

It most certainly is not Perform (any).

 

[koesherbacon]

Maybe Calligraphy could be used with a penalty?

For instance, my wife is a wonderful artist (she even majored in Fine Arts). While this example is the reverse, she can draw better than anybody I've ever known and last year she bought a calligraphy book and picked it up almost immediately because she already had the fine motor skills associated with drawing. So perhaps the same could be true for PF, where ranks in Calligraphy could translate into Drawing since they are both very similar.

 

[Blackbrrd]

Maybe Calligraphy could be used with a penalty?

For instance, my wife is a wonderful artist (she even majored in Fine Arts). While this example is the reverse, she can draw better than anybody I've ever known and last year she bought a calligraphy book and picked it up almost immediately because she already had the fine motor skills associated with drawing. So perhaps the same could be true for PF, where ranks in Calligraphy could translate into Drawing since they are both very similar.

I don't think it would go that way. Drawing is more about managing to picture something you see in 3D in 2D. It's relatively easy to copy something of a photo. It's really hard to draw something from memory or something you see in real life. For me, geometric figures are the easiest, while I can't draw humans worth a damn.

Personally, I would have used Perform (drawing) if there is something called Perform in Pathfinder, otherwise I would go with Craft (drawing).

 

[Wicht]

Personally, I would have used Perform (drawing) if there is something called Perform in Pathfinder, otherwise I would go with Craft (drawing).

Perform denotes things you do for an audience and includes singing, speaking, instruments, and dance. It does not include drawing. Craft is the skill of making things using tools, materials, and what-have you so as to produce a tangible physical object. Drawing is properly a craft, not a performance.

 

[SkidAce]

Pathfinder doesn't specify Craft subspecialties the way it does with Knowledge skills. I'd just say Craft (Drawing).

You only beat me to the answer cause I was at work!

 

[Stormonu]

Perform denotes things you do for an audience and includes singing, speaking, instruments, and dance. It does not include drawing. Craft is the skill of making things using tools, materials, and what-have you so as to produce a tangible physical object. Drawing is properly a craft, not a performance.

Would songwriting then be a Craft skill as well? Versus singing the song, which is clearly Perform. What about Playwright - where would it fall?

Some forms of drawing and painting are done to perform before an audience (those cartoonists at the fair), and art is often displayed in a gallery or showing for an audience.

(I do think in the end it makes more sense as a Craft skill, along with say, Sculpture, but just being devil's advocate for a minute. Some skills can go several ways, I think in the end it's just where you want to put it).

 

[Wicht]

Would songwriting then be a Craft skill as well? Versus singing the song, which is clearly Perform. What about Playwright - where would it fall?

Some forms of drawing and painting are done to perform before an audience (those cartoonists at the fair), and art is often displayed in a gallery or showing for an audience.

(I do think in the end it makes more sense as a Craft skill, along with say, Sculpture, but just being devil's advocate for a minute. Some skills can go several ways, I think in the end it's just where you want to put it).

DM's have some discretion. The songwriting, for instance, could be made using Craft (songwriting) or Perform (sing). Though I might add +4 to the DC for the perform check to create a song for other people to sing. The cartoonist at the fair is using two skills, Craft (drawing) and Perform (oratory). Sculpture is definitely Craft, as is painting; making a thing of beauty for others to enjoy does not make it Perform. Just because you can show off the talent of the local blacksmith by showcasing your lovely sword does not make the blacksmith a performance artist. If there is a tangible product, it is Craft.