The use of this word appears in two different situations, in the drawing and in relation to the presentation of ideas. In both contexts, the noun outline expresses a common basic element: the initial expression of something that will later be developed.
In the making of a map, a plan, or the design of a building, the idea of an outline is known as a sketch. In the brief exposition of a plan, sketch is equivalent to a note. It should be noted, on the other hand, that there is a profession related to this term, the sketch artist. These professionals are specialists in the basic design of some type of artistic work.
In the world of creation
To paint a picture, sculpt a statue or design a car, you have to start with an initial idea that is captured in the form of a scheme or sketch on paper. In other words, an outline is drawn with the fundamental lines. The outline is an initial draft and is therefore totally provisional and not definitive.
Any creative activity starts from this basic scheme, which is usually in the form of simple lines on which it is already possible to develop a more elaborate creation with all kinds of details.
In the history of art, some sketches of great works have been preserved for their high value, both economic and artistic. From them it is possible to better understand the final result of a work. An illustrative example is related to "El Guernica" by Picasso, a large work of which more than forty sketches are preserved and which have been exhibited on several occasions together with the original work.
In the world of ideas
The most sophisticated projects we can imagine also have a very simple beginning. In this sense, if a novelist has a story in his head, before transferring it to paper, he will surely make a general outline of what he is going to tell (for example, a division by chapters, the traits of the main characters or a brief explanation about the knot of the weft).
Something very similar is what happens in a business project, in which in its initial stage a basic scheme is designed that expresses the whole of the activity that is going to be developed.
If a lecturer announces that he is going to present an outline of his book, the audience will know that the fundamental aspects of his work are going to be discussed and, consequently, other secondary aspects will not be covered.
Photos: Fotolia - Fizkes - Uladzimir
