Hatching / Cross Hatching

[Spiderlok33]

Is hatching and cross hatching something that can be taught or something that you have to just keep doing till you get it right, I know that it is only lines that make the "fake" if you will shadow/shading. If it is something that can be taught is there any good places that you can help or point me in the right direction. And would you say that cross hatching is better then normal shading or would shading normally be better.

[Ninjerk]

I don't know what shading normally means, but you just have to practice to get better at rendering/cross hatching. If you have to be somewhere for a long period of time (boring class, long line at the doctor's office, etc.), draw an abstract shape and fill it in, making sure to keep your lines evenly spaced and without going outside the shape.

[Ryan K]

It's something you progressively learn through practice as well as an understanding of how light falls on the planes of an object. Lines of hatching should go in the direction of the plane to make the rendering believable.

Notice in the picture below how the lines flow over the forms becoming more densely packed in darker areas, and more sparse in lighter areas. But the lines always complement the planes, they never contradict the forms they flow over.
http://www-cs.engr.ccny.cuny.edu/~wolberg/projects/engraving/goltzius.jpg

As for which method is better, it's all up to your taste and what you want to accomplish with an image.

If I'm speaking out of my ass, tell me, I'll delete :). This is just my understanding.

[Craig D]

Check out ccsears thread in the mentoring forum. It's worth your time.

[Anid Maro]

Yeah, Ccsears' thread is gold. Here's a link to the thread (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1638451), and here's a link to the post about pen & ink (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1641588&postcount=11) (including hatching).

Also "being taught" and "learning through practice" are two sides of the same coin. The concept of hatching is real simple, but pulling it off well takes lots of practice and there a whole lot of nuances you'll pick up. In my experience though, the better you get at understanding forms and lighting the better your hatching will turn out even if your actual hatching technique isn't so great.

As far as hatching being "better" or "worse", that's really up to you. If you want the look of hatching, then it'll be "better". Also if you're working with oils on canvas then neat hatching may be more work than it's worth. What techniques are best for you depend on what kind of look you're going for and what tools you're using.

Finally, a small nitpick: You mention the lines creating "fake" shading, but what could possibly constitute "real" shading? Heh, drawing/painting is all about using "fake" effects to give the illusion of whatever the subject is. "Realness/Fakeness" is an irrelevant metric when it comes to this stuff. :)