Hatching

For the emergence of young from an egg, see Egg (biology). For the "crosshatch" symbol, see Number sign.

Albrecht Dürer, Veronica, engraving, 1513. Example of hatching (e.g., background) and cross-hatching in many darker areas (visible if viewed at full size).

Detail of Veronica

"Send in the Clown", a "Pen & Ink" "Crosshatching drawing" by Alexander

Hatching (hachure in French) is an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects by drawing (or painting or scribing) closely spaced parallel lines. (It is also used in monochromatic heraldic representations to indicate what the tincture of a "full-colour" emblazon would be.) When lines are placed at an angle to one another, it is called cross-hatching.

Hatching is especially important in essentially linear media, such as drawing, and many forms of printmaking, such as engraving, etching and woodcut. In Western art, hatching originated in the Middle Ages, and developed further into cross-hatching, especially in the old master prints of the fifteenth century. Master ES and Martin Schongauer in engraving and Erhard Reuwich and Michael Wolgemut in woodcut were pioneers of both techniques, and Albrecht Dürer in particular perfected the technique of crosshatching in both media. Among twenty-first century artists, Larry D. Alexander has perfected a pen and ink crosshatching technique and utilised it in a large body of drawings since 1991.^[1][2]

Artists use the technique, varying the length, angle, closeness and other qualities of the lines, most commonly in drawing, linear painting, engraving, and ethnic art.

Technique

The main concept is that the quantity, thickness and spacing of the lines will affect the brightness of the overall image, and emphasize forms creating the illusion of volume. Hatching lines should always follow (i.e. wrap around) the forms. By increasing quantity, thickness and closeness, a darker area will result.

An area of shading next to another area which has lines going in another direction is often used to create contrast.

Line work can be used to represent colours, typically by using the same type of hatch to represent particular tones. For example, red might be made up of lightly spaced lines, whereas green could be made of two layers of perpendicular dense lines, resulting in a realistic image.

See also

Visual arts portal

• Dip pen
• Printmaking
• Hatching system (heraldry)

References

1. ^ - Library of Congress - Alexander, Larry D. - 1953
2. ^ - Alexander Greeting Cards - Larry Dell Alexander

• "hatching" article in ArtLex Art Dictionary