Hatching

[Xeon_OND]

I've been trying to find youtube vids and online articles of how to do hatching properly but can't find a comprehensive one.

It seems everybody is born to be able to render using the hatching technique naturally and that's why there's nothing much written on this (ie: nobody teaches you how to breathe and you already know how to breathe even as an infant!).

My question is: is there any guidelines or rules to determine which direction the hatching lines go? As in, upward, downward, horizontal across, or diagonal up, or diagonal down? And is there such a thing as "curvy hatching lines"?

See my sample below:
http://www.oneniceday.com/Artwork/Hatching-sample.jpg

I'm using straight down hatching lines to try to render this circle into a 3D sphere but it looks like a fucky watermelon!!!!! What the hell?

Pls advise! ;)
Xeon

[arttorney]

It looks like we need to have the official hatching thread and give a link to Ilaekae and Sorknes.

The only guideline about where the individual hatching lines go is the guideline you yourself create (caveat: the people on here are mostly into digital stuff and so seem to prefer really crisp straight lines like you can make with a computer program. They consider the squiggly stuff distracting.)

The guideline about where all the hatching lines go has more to do with values than with line direction. In the places that need to be dark you need more lines, more densely packed somehow; less white space. I'd say start with whatever is your second lightest value after the paper and make a set of lines for everything that is that dark or darker. Then for the next darker value make a set of lines for everything that is that dark or darker. Continue in that manner until you have reached your darkest value.

Yes, there are curvy hatching lines.

Look through here at all the different hatching strategies. http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=97429

[Farvus]

http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=124432&postcount=4

Here on pages 5 and 6 of tutorial there is some information on how to approach linearly described form. Hope it helps.

[TASmith]

Here's a helpful thread on the subject: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=168667&highlight=hatching

My main advice is there, but also, make sure each line follows the form instead of inverting it. That, and try studying some other artists who do it well. Lookup Sasha Gorec's sketchbook. Or, do some studies from this guy: http://www.zeno.org/Kunstwerke/A/D%C3%BCrer,+Albrecht

Scroll through his drawings and see when he's doing some crosshatching.

[armando]

Treat hatching like pattern or texture.

[Xeon_OND]

Wow, thanks a lot guys! There's truly a lot of examples in all those links provided! :D
Currently, my main problem with hatching (not cross-hatching) is with spheres. I guess you gotta make the hatching lines follow the bottom curve of the sphere.

Btw, one last question for now: Are there any good books out there that teaches the basics of light and shadows, and then move on to more advance usage (e.g: a comprehensive book on light/shadow which is suitable for beginners)?
I don't remember seeing any light/shadow book in the CA Artist reading list thread, and the couple I've seen at Amazon are all old books with few or zero user reviews.

Thanks! ;)
Xeon

[Farvus]

Yes. You got everything in Andrew Loomis books plus they are all free for download. From here for example:
http://www.placidchaos.com/AM/index.php/2006/02/21/andrew_loomis
http://fineart.sk/index.php?cat=1

Andrew Loomis "Succesful drawing" - Light on the basic forms (spheres, cubes), Complex forms in light, Applying light on form to comics, Basic information on applying light to figures
Andrew Loomis "Figure drawing for all it's worth" - Body planes, Choosing light, Modeling of rounded form, Procedure for drawing rendered character.
Andrew Loomis "Creative illustration" - More in depth information on tone and tonal mediums (intensity of light in relation to shadow, relationship of value etc. )
Andrew Loomis "Eye of the Painter" - Values of light

[Xeon_OND]

Wow thanks Farvus! Damn, I've all of Loomis' books and never knew it had stuff on lights. I'm gonna check it out. ;)

[armando]

Jack Levine's a good example of hatching as pattern and texture. It's hard to find examples of his caricatures online, I guess he only drew that way in the 80's. The book "drawing the line" has some big full page examples of his stuff. Here's one I could find: http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/en/4/47/Updikenyrb.gif As you can see, he mostly doesn't "follow the form".
A little research into notan may be helpful too.