Hatching

DEFINITION

A technique of modeling, indicating tone and suggesting light and shade in drawing or tempera painting, using closely set parallel lines. If done skillfully, the effect is subtle and complementary to the artwork, and if overdone, can look like amateurish like "fancy pyrotechnical linework." (46) German Renaissance artist and etcher, Albrecht Durer, was known for the skill of his hatching, a method he used of weaving lines around his faces and figures and short strokes to emphasize wrinkles and bony. With him one stroke led to another, and the hatching became almost spiritual. In his drawing, Italian artist Michelangelo did hatching that emphasized bony, hard muscles and appeared almost burnished looking. Charles Dana Gibson is an example of a 20th-century American artist who effectively used Hatching. Also illustrators Frank and Joseph Leyendecker stirred much attention for a cross-hatch method they perfected from a secret recipe. They did the hatching in oil but combined the speed effect of pencil with the visual impact of color. This method allowed them to work more quickly than their peers, which stirred much jealousy. Sources: Dan Gheno, &#39;Making Better Lines, Making Better Lines&#39;, "Drawing" magazine, Spring 2006, pp.39-56; AskART biographies(LPD)<br><br>A technique of modeling, indicating tone and suggesting light and shade in drawing or tempera panting, using closely set parallel line.<br><br> A technique used in drawing to indicate light and shade, or form, consisting of parallel lines of varying width, darkness and spacing. Cross-hatching is simply two or more overlapping sets of these parallel sets of lines, at a perpendicular or other angle to the first set of lines.