Hatching and crosshatching are artistic techniques frequently used in drawing and printmaking to create tone or shading. To “hatch,” artists engrave, etch, or draw parallel lines closely together to suggest shadow and create the illusion of depth, form, texture, or movement. Artists can vary the thickness, spacing, length, curvature, or angle of the lines to produce different effects. To “crosshatch,” the artist simply crosses the first set of parallel lines with a second set placed at an angle.
Both techniques are visible in Rembrandt van Rijn’s The Sacrifice of Abraham, included in Middlebury’s Collections.
Written by Simone Edgar Holmes
Bibliography
Sivak, Alexandria. “Getty Museum Presents Hatched! Creating Form with Line.” February 6, 2014. http://news.getty.edu/hatched-line.htm.
