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Cross hatching is one of those art techniques that many people learn in art class, practice for a bit on a circle to make it look more like a sphere, and then never use again. I’m here to revive the ancient technique of cross hatching and make it sexy again.
Cross hatching 4 ever.
Why Cross Hatching?
Cross hatching is a technique I’m sure you’ve seen, and maybe have tried before- it’s a super-effective way to add value to a drawing, i.e. shading. There are other techniques to add shading, but there is something about cross hatching- stylistically- that gives a unique look to a drawing. What is it? Old-timey? Extra-hand-drawn? Graphic?
Types of Cross Hatching
There are lots-o-ways to do cross hatching, and you can:
• Vary the line width (by using fatter or thinner drawing tools)
• Layer on more lines to make an area look darker and/or make lines closer together,
• Use straight or curved lines to play up contours of objects
• Experiment with colors
• Experiment with lines other than little straight lines (try curved or scribbles)
Materials for Cross Hatching
Pencil, pen, marker, charcoal, anything that draws. Try a nice thin Micron pen for ultimate line control. The shading looks really subtle when you use thin lines and more obvious when you use thicker lines- both have their purposes.
Pencil will give you a softer look, a darker color marker over a lighter one can look good. I used my beloved Prismacolor markers here.
Practice it
Try out a bunch of these techniques either on your own drawings, or you can download this fancy little page of circles to start with. I spent a pleasant hour or so drawing lines on circles and figuring out different styles. It reminded me of ZENTANGLE! (Because of the relaxing, meditative state I was in. Or maybe that was just my sloth brain.)
Make a crosshatch scale from light to dark to practice your technique.
Ooh! Banners!
Sit around and practice drawing banners, then add a few crosshatch lines here and there to give them depth. I have a lot of depth.
Oops, did I go banner-crazy?
Take a minute to follow me on Instagram for more fun art stuff.
I need to cross hatch more.
Who doesn’t, I say?
Excellent tips for fun projects! Fun is the key. If drawing is work to you, quit it and do something else.
Right on! That’s such a great thought to keep in mind while drawing- thanks for the comment!
Having a good time. As a teacher don’t take the time to do things just for me. Always making a sample for the students’ projects. Thanks for doing this!??
You know, it is making me so happy that people are getting into doing this. I’m actually loving it that some art teachers are doing this, because it really is important to take some time to do your own work. Even if it’s just for a few minutes! Thanks for joining!