Hatching & Cross-Hatching

Build value and texture using only lines — parallel lines for light shading, crossed layers for darks. The oldest shading trick there is (73,000 years old).

Materials

Pencil, fine-tip marker, pen, or a single sharp colored pencil
Drawing paper
Ruler (for the practice scale only)
A simple object to draw (cup, shoe, apple, crumpled paper)

Vocabulary (put on the board)

Hatching:: Shading with rows of parallel lines. Closer lines read darker.
Cross-hatching:: Adding another layer of lines that cross the first, at an angle, to go darker.
Contour hatching:: Hatching lines that curve to follow the shape of the form, making it look round.
Value:: How light or dark something is.
Texture:: How a surface looks like it would feel.

What to say

"Remember the oldest drawing we found — the cross-hatched lines on red ochre at Blombos Cave, 73,000 years old? People have been shading with lines longer than with almost anything else. Today you learn the same move."

"Here's the idea: you can't pick up a 'gray' marker. But if I draw lines close together, your eye mixes them with the white paper and reads gray. Lines far apart — light gray. Lines tight together — dark gray. Lines crossed over each other — darker still."

"Rules for good hatching: lines go the same direction, they're about the same length, and they're quick and confident. Slow, wobbly lines look nervous. Flick your wrist."

"Cross-hatching: once your first layer is down, turn the paper a little and add a second layer that crosses the first. Need darker? Third layer, another angle."

Demo a 5-box scale: (1) empty paper, (2) loose hatching, (3) tight hatching, (4) one cross-hatch layer, (5) two or three cross-hatch layers.

Lesson flow

1.Hook (3 min) — Connect to Blombos Cave and the First Paintings lesson. Show the idea that lines = gray.
2.Demo the scale (5 min) — 5-box value scale using only lines. Talk through line spacing and direction.
3.Student scale (10 min) — Students copy the 5-box scale. Check that each box is clearly darker than the last.
4.Sphere drill (10 min) — Draw a circle, pick a light source, hatch the shadow side with curved contour lines. It should start to look like a ball.
5.Apply (rest of period) — Draw the object or start the assignment, shading only with lines.

Walk around and catch these

If you see…	Say / do…
Scribbling instead of hatching	Lines should be separate and parallel. Have them slow down for 5 lines, then speed up keeping the same spacing.
Lines in random directions	Pick one direction per layer. Rotate the paper rather than the hand.
Outlining everything heavily	Thick outlines flatten the form. Let the hatching make the edge.
Hooks and tails at line ends	That's slow, nervous lines. Flick quickly so the line starts and ends clean.
Only one value	Squint. Where's the darkest dark? Add another cross-hatch layer there.

Student steps (these go on the assignment sheet)

Lightly sketch your shapes.
Pick a light source and mark it with an arrow.
Hatch the middle values first, all lines one direction.
Cross-hatch the darkest areas with a second (and third) layer at a new angle.
Leave the lightest areas as clean paper. Squint and push the darks.