How to Draw a Human Face – Hatching and Cross Hatching Drawing Techniques

Art Lesson 50, Part 2

Discover How to Draw a Human Face

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Hatching and Cross Hatching Drawing Techniques

For this artwork, Natalie was using a mirror to draw from life.

Even if you are not drawing a self-portrait, you might still use a mirror to check the anatomical proportions of the face.

As you can see, the main aim of this approach is to depict essential portrait features with minimal pencil hatching, leaving out all unnecessary things. Each stroke in the drawing is treated as an essential part of the drawing. It is quite important to vary the strokes and make each kind of stroke distinct. A variety of strokes are used in the drawing. There are strokes of different lengths, hatching, cross-hatching, parallel hatching, plain lines, and smudging. In some places the hatching is precise and accurate; in other places it is quite freehand and loose.

It is essential to keep the pencil sharpened. We would like each stroke to be noticeable and the right tool will help to achieve that.

Our aim is not to make a realistic portrait, but quite the opposite – we want to express creativity in this drawing. To accomplish that, we are using generalization and stylization.

We have started the drawing with delicate strokes depicting the overall dimensions of the head and an indication of the facial features. At this point, the portrait is suggestive, and it will continue to progress in a more freehand style. The whole drawing is quite “sketchy.” The work continues on all parts of the drawing almost simultaneously; we do not concentrate on one particular area at a time. It is advisable to spend a bit more time and effort on drawing the eyes because the viewer will always pay attention to them.

The emotional energy of the drawing will greatly depend on the face’s expression. It’s not enough to draw all the facial features with anatomical correctness. You must also depict the individual character of the person.
At the end we have a great artwork that looks fresh and easy.