Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstall
ThatPainter is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn More
Hatching is a way to create shading, tone, and texture with closely spaced parallel lines. Add another set of lines crossing the first and you have cross-hatching. By changing how lines are spaced, drawn, and directed, artists can make an area look lighter or darker, describe a surface, or suggest the shape of a form.
How hatching works
In hatching, an artist places parallel marks side by side. Closely spaced lines tend to make an area appear darker; wider spacing leaves more of the paper or other surface visible and tends to read as lighter. Line width and darkness also affect the result, so spacing is a useful guide rather than a fixed rule. The National Gallery of Art describes hatching as a way to define forms with short or long parallel lines: Explore the Basics of Drawing.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Hatch marks can be straight or curved. Lines that bend around a rounded object can help describe its volume, while the same marks can also suggest texture. Their effect depends on the marks, medium, and surface.
Hatching and related techniques
| Technique | Mark arrangement | Typical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Hatching | One set of parallel lines | Builds tone and texture; can help define form. |
| Cross-hatching | Two or more sets of parallel lines crossing at angles | Can build darker tone and texture. |
| Contour hatching | Lines bend or follow the shape of a form | Helps suggest volume. |
| Stippling | Dots rather than lines | An alternative way to build visual effects; the Getty lists it among related approaches. |
These approaches are options, not a ranking. To compare them, notice whether the marks stay parallel or intersect, how dark the area appears, how much texture shows, and whether the lines follow the form. The National Portrait Gallery defines hatching as parallel lines used to create shading and notes its use mainly in drawing and engraving, as well as in tempera painting: Hatching. The Getty discusses parallel, cross-, and contour-hatching as ways to suggest relief or shadow on a flat surface: Hatched! Creating Form with Line.
#1 Best Overall
Where artists use hatching
Hatching is not limited to pencil drawings. Artists use hatch marks in drawing and in linear printmaking, including engraving and woodcut; the National Portrait Gallery also lists tempera painting. Graphite and ink are among the possible drawing media, and the texture of the paper can affect graphite marks. Princeton University Art Museum explains hatching with parallel graphite lines in its discussion of drawing: Collection Publications: Drawings and Watercolors.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
In engraving, strokes are cut into a surface as part of making the print, so the marks contribute both to the image and to the printmaking process. The Metropolitan Museum of Art describes Martin Schongauer using varied strokes for texture and cross-hatching in deep shadows, and Andrea Mantegna using short lines of varying width to create tonal effects: The Printed Image in the West: Engraving. A picture with hatch-like marks is not necessarily an engraving: artists can draw similar lines directly, and identifying a print process depends on evidence about the particular object.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A simple hatching exercise
- Draw a small strip of parallel lines. Gradually change the spacing or pressure and watch how the tone appears to shift.
- In part of the strip, add a second set of lines at an angle to make cross-hatching. Compare the darker area with the single-layer hatching.
- Draw a sphere or cylinder and curve the hatch lines around its surface to explore how line direction can suggest volume.
These steps are a practice exercise, not a prescribed method; adjust the marks and medium to see how they affect the result.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
