Drawing is a skill that has been practiced for centuries. Many people view drawing as a basic skill, something everyone can do. However, only few people are really talented drawers.
Drawing is a complex skill that takes years to master. There are many different types of drawing, and each one has its own set of tricks and techniques to make you a better drawer. Some drawings take years to master, while others take days or hours.
One type of drawing that takes some time to learn is hatchings and cross-hatches. These textures are popular in natural looking or abstract drawings. They give the drawing texture and dimension, making the object appear more real.
What is cross-hatching?
When you want to create a shading effect, but your medium is not wet, you can use the technique of cross-hatching. It is similar to hatching, only instead of using single lines, you use double or triple lines.
The distance between the lines should be less than the width of one line. This makes it more obvious that there are many lines, and it creates the impression of a darker area.
Because the ink does not mix with the paper or surface, it remains distinct from the untouched areas. This gives the effect of lighter and darker areas within the same region of ink.
Cross-hatching is most commonly used in pencil drawings and chalk art where the artist wants to create a shading effect but does not want to mix media.
Techniques for dry media hatching
When creating textures and shades in your drawings, you can use two main techniques: hatching and cross-hatching. Both create natural shading, but each has its own distinctive look.
Hatching is the process of drawing parallel lines over another line or set of lines. The thickness of the lines varies depending on what texture you are looking to achieve.
Cross-hatching is similar to hatching, except that the lines cross each other. The number of crosses depends on the desired effect as well.
Both these techniques can be used in both dry and wet media, but only in dry media can they be used separately. When water is added to acrylic paint or ink, the texture disappears and it becomes one smooth surface.
Techniques for cross-hatching
There are several ways to create texture and shading in drawings. Two of the most popular are hatching and cross-hatching. Both can be used to create shades and shadows, build dimension, and add a richer texture to the drawing.
Hatching is the practice of drawing lines of varying weight and thickness that all go in one direction. These lines can either be straight or curved. When drawing objects such as shadows or textures, the lines go in the direction of the object.
Cross-hatching is similar to hatching, except the lines go across each other instead of only one direction. This adds a richer texture when done correctly.
Both techniques can be used either separately or together.
Dry media and wet media
When we talk about media, we mean the materials that are used for drawing and painting. There are two main types of media: wet media and dry media.
Wet media refers to paints, pens, and markers that have liquid content. These require a backing surface such as paper or canvas, and need to be dried after being applied.
Dry media refers to powders such as graphite or cocoa powder that are applied directly to a surface such as paper. These do not need a backing surface and do not need to be dried.
Hatching and cross-hatching are strokes used in drawing that can only be done in dry media. Because of this, it is important to know which type of drawing medium you are using so that you can use the appropriate settings.
What type of artist are you?
When it comes to art, there are many different styles and genres. For example, some people only draw faces, others only draw abstract art, and still others only draw in a particular medium.
Most artists have a few tricks up their sleeves that they use to enhance their art. In this article, we will discuss two of these tricks: hatching and cross-hatching.
Hatching is a drawing technique used to produce tonal or shaded areas in a picture. It is most often used to produce the shadows or the non-lit parts of an image.
Cross-hatching is very similar to hatching, the only difference being that cross-hatching uses a series of lines going in opposite directions to produce the shading effect. Both techniques can be used in dry media such as paper or canvas, but not in wet media such as paint.
Learn the basics
Before you can use hatching and cross-hatching in your drawings, you must learn the basics. You must know how to draw lines of different widths and textures.
Lines can be drawn with a pen or pencil, crayon, charcoal or any other medium that is dry. The texture of the lines is created by how many times you drag the pen or pencil over the paper.
How many times you drag the pen or pencil over the paper depends on how thick you want the line to be. The thicker the line, the more times you must drag the pen or pencil over the paper.
Some artists use very thin lines that are almost invisible. These artists use very fine pens and/or very light pressure when drawing to create these thin lines.
Get the right tools
Before you can start drawing, you need to get the right tools. For instance, you need a canvas or paper, a pencil or pen and eraser.
Most artists use a combination of these two materials, but some use only one. It depends on your style and what you like to draw in.
Canvas is more expensive than paper, but it is more durable. If you like to draw very detailed images, then canvas might be better for you because it does not tear easily.
Pencils come in different grades, from soft to hard. The harder the pencil, the more details you can get in your drawing. The downside is that it takes longer to draw with one. You can also put down thicker lines with a higher grade pencil.
Erasers come in different textures and degrees of effectiveness. Get an eraser that removes what you need without leaving any marks behind on the drawing surface.
Practice, practice, practice!
Even though it is clear that illustration is a field of art, not all artists can be considered great. The difference? Skill, experience, and talent.
If you want to be the best, then you have to work hard and constantly update your portfolio with new art. It takes years to master your style and skills, so do not give up!
In this digital age, it is easy to get caught up in the tools you use. Many new artists start off using digital mediums like Photoshop or Canvas because they are easy to use and manipulate.
However, there are some qualities that cannot be captured in these software programs. For instance, canvas painting cannot have wet paint applied to it like real canvas paintings can.
In general, all mediums of art can be very similar in terms of technique depending on the artist.
