I admire those who can create successful drawings with cross-hatching. It still feels a little unatural to me, but I love the way it looks. Maurice Sendak over the years has made plenty of dynamic children’s books using cross-hatching techniques, and of course, Maurice Sendak rules. Below you’ll find a couple of drawings I did in an illustration class to practice cross-hatching. To make the top one, I traced photographs of actual statues and filled in the darker values with hatching, cross-hatching, and dark lines. The bottom composition is one of my favorites. I enjoy conceptualizing fantastical hybrid creatures and feel as if I could do a whole series of these. What do you see in this one? There are other scientific drawings of combo-creatures in the portfolio section of this site, if you want to take a look around. Enjoy!

Two Statues Looking at Something Interesting

Two Statues Looking at Something Interesting, ink on vellum

 

Hybrid Creature, ink on drawing paper

Hybrid Creature, ink on drawing paper