Shading Objects Using Hatching, Crosshatching, Scribbling, and Other Drawing Pen Techniques

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Do you love the look of pen and ink drawings that demonstrate hatching, crosshatching, and other mark-making techniques, and need a bit of guidance to start putting them to use in your own work? How does one go about using the visual information taken in from a reference photograph and translate it into a pen and ink sketch that demonstrates three-dimensionality?


In order to start adding a sense of believable form to a sketch, it's essential to understand how to create a variety in values using the art medium at hand. It's also very important that we practice taking in the visual information presented to us through either photographs or real-life subjects, so that we're able to describe form effectively through drawing.

Using pen and ink can be intimidating at first due to the fact that it's permanent and we need to use mark-making techniques to create different values. There is a large variety of mark-making methods and they all lead to very different results. 

In today's post, I will be sharing the process that I go through when creating pen and ink sketches of objects using photographic references. I will be walking you through each step, from the selection of a great photograph, to preparing an initial pencil sketch, to actually filling that sketch in with ink marks. I will be exploring six different mark-making techniques so that you're able to see how the outcomes compare to each other. 

In my previous blog post titled Pen and Ink Sketching: 6 Shading Techniques, I gave a thorough explanation of each of the six techniques I'll be using here today. I focused on how to go about creating marks successfully using each, and provided essential exercises for beginners to start off with, including how to actually use them to start adding shading and form to an outline drawing of a cube. 

If you're a beginner just starting out with pen and ink, I HIGHLY recommend checking my previous post out. Both that post AND this one include free downloadable PDF's that you can print out at home and practice with. *Find these free downloadables at the end!
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My Process When Creating Pen and Ink Studies Using Photographic References

1. Preparation of supplies

To create the kind of pen and ink studies we're going to be exploring today, I usually like having the following supplies on hand:
-Pencil (preferably H or HB)
-Soft eraser
-Drawing/sketching paper or Bristol board 
-Drawing pens (.3 and .5 points) *Two of my favorite brands are LePen and Micron!

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​2. Warm-Up 

I like warming up my hand by practicing the marks I will be using in my studies on a scrap piece of paper. If you're a beginner just starting with pen and ink and you're setting out to sketch an object in a way that actually transmits form, I suggest practicing value strips as well (there is a PDF at the end of the post that you can use to practice with). 
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It's absolutely essential that you understand how to create a variety in values using marks when it comes to sketching with a drawing pen, especially if you're looking to add believable structure and form to a drawing. 
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Practicing different types of marks to shade a simple geometric shape.

Value strip showing hatching and crosshatching.

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3. Reference photograph selection

When searching for a photograph to use as reference for any kind of art study, there are a few things you have to keep in mind. First, make sure that its contents are suited for your current skill level, especially when you are exploring a new medium. This way, you'll be able to focus more on the new medium or technique. Aside from this, you must select a photograph that is high quality.

When I am choosing a photograph to work from, I make sure that it has a great resolution that will allow me to zoom in to view details as needed. Photographs should also demonstrate great lighting, which means that they are not over or underexposed, and that there is a good range of values/balance between lights and darks.

If you have trouble discerning between light, mid-tone and dark areas, I highly recommend looking for photographs with a single light source and possibly opening up your image in an image-editing software like Photoshop to desaturate it. Keep practicing this, because it's imperative that you gain practice doing this so that you're able to render values and place them accordingly when you're trying to make your drawings more believable. 

To find more free, quality photographs to practice with, visit my post titled My Favorite Free Image Sites and Two Examples of References with Finished Illustrations!

Photo by Thomas Quaritsch from unsplash.com. Click on link to visit site and download for your studies.

Photo showing lightest areas.

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4. Creating an initial outline sketch (and lightest values map)

Once I have taken a moment to observe my reference picture and have pinpointed lightest and darkest areas, as well as mid-tones, it's time to create my initial pencil sketch! This will entail creating a simple outline drawing of my object, paying attention to proportion and location of separate elements in regards to each other.

Also, at this point I also create a "map" for myself that will remind me where my lightest areas are located, so that I can protect them and leave them untouched by any marks. You can make this "map" as detailed as you'd like if you feel that creating more shapes with your pencil will help you throughout the mark-making process. 

If you'd like to skip the outline drawing phase of this study and jump straight onto the ink mark-making, you can download either the large single cherry outline PDF or the six cherry outline PDF so you can practice all of the mentioned techniques! Both of these free downloadable worksheets can be found at the end of this blog post!

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5. Laying down initial layer of marks 

First, I outline my initial pencil sketch (minus the smaller "map" shapes) using my drawing pen. Then, similarly to my watercolor painting process, I leave the lightest lights completely untouched by any ink and start adding in my first layer of ink. What I like to do with these faster studies, is fill in ALL my mid-tone to darkest areas simultaneously using light pressure on my pen, making sure to work around my lightest areas. 
 
In other words, by the end of this step, my entire mid-tone and darkest areas already are covered with that first "light" layer of marks. 

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6. Adding darker values

This is the part of the process that is the most time-consuming, as I work back and forth between mid-tone to darkest areas doing my best to create gradual shifts in value until the desired form is achieved. Throughout this process, I constantly look at my reference picture.

It's essential to not go overboard by adding too many marks in mid-tone areas, but also to not be scared of going dark where needed (which is usually only in small areas). Remember that there has there has to be a good range of values within your sketch or you risk "flattening" it out! 

At the end, you can outline your sketch using your drawing pen once more if you wish! :)

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Comparing Different Mark-Making/Shading Techniques

​Hatching

Hatching- Mark-making/ Shading technique

Cherry sketch showing hatching.

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Crosshatching

Crosshatching- Mark-making/ Shading technique

Cherry sketch showing crosshatching.

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Contour Lines

Contour Lines- Mark-making/ Shading technique

Cherry sketch showing contour lines.

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Weaving

Weaving- Mark-making/ Shading technique

Cherry sketch showing weaving.

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Stippling

Stippling- Mark-making/ Shading technique

Cherry sketch showing stippling.

Scribbling

Scribbling- Mark-making/ Shading technique

Cherry sketch showing scribbling.

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I highly recommend practicing at least a few different pen and ink mark-making/shading techniques because it's the only way you'll be able to know which ones come more naturally to you, as well as which can best create the effects you're going for.
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My personal favorites are hatching/crosshatching and contour lines! I'd love to know which you like best below!

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drawing_marks_lines.pdf
File Size:	5191 kb
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value_transitions_shading.pdf
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cherry_outline_drawing.pdf
File Size:	1545 kb
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6_cherry_outline_drawings.pdf
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