The article is devoted to one of the relevant problems of modern art - the role of academic drawing in the painter's professional development. The author analyzes the problem by the example of E. I. Zverkov's creative work. The paper provides a detailed survey of the traditional interpretation of the drawing's role in domestic academic school formation. Early drawings by E. I. Zverkov are under study.
Key words and phrases: academic drawing; academic school; traditions in art; thematic painting; national landscape painting.