A drawing and printmaking technique that creates tone, shadow, and texture through closely spaced parallel lines, with darker areas achieved by placing lines closer together.
From Middle English hacchen, meaning 'to chop' or 'to cut with short strokes,' related to hatchet. The term reflects the chopping motion used to create the parallel line marks.
Hatching is like the DNA of Western art—virtually every master from Leonardo to Rembrandt used it to model form and create volume! The direction of hatching lines can actually follow the contours of objects, making flat drawings appear three-dimensional, which is why it became the foundation technique taught in art academies.
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