Skip to main content

Hatch drawing

Rate this tutorial
Average: 3.6 (10 votes)

Do you ever doodle automatically on a piece of paper while you're phoning? That's the same principle as hatching: drawing parallel or spontaneous lines to create darker areas. 

1. Parallel hatching

The basic principle is simple: draw lines parallel to one another to create shaded areas.

To tone down hatched areas, from darkest to lightest, you can:

  • Use various pencils:
  • with soft lead (2B, 3B) for dark, thick hatching
  • with hard lead (2H, 3H) for lighter, fainter hatching.
  • press down more or less forcefully while drawing.
  • Varying the density when drawing lines closer together or farther apart: closer together for darker shading, farther apart for lighter shading.
  • Darken the tone by adding cross-hatching: another series of parallel lines crisscrossing the first ones.
  • Draw the parallel hatching freehand: using a ruler would look too constrained.

2. Randomized hatching

Freehand hatching: for a more luminous drawing.

  • Continually change hatching direction by pivoting your wrist.
  • Press down harder on the pencil and multiply your pencil strokes for dark values. Do the opposite for light values.

Curved hatching: ideal for adding volume to the drawing of a round object.

  • Draw a series of hatching lines along the object's horizontal curves.
  • Then draw a series of cross-hatching lines on top by following the object's vertical curves. 

What you need to know

The closer together you draw the lines, the darker the overall shading will look. Conversely, the farther away you space your lines, the lighter the shading. Hatching allows you to shade your drawings.

Recommended product:
1557® 180g/m²