Arts & Culture
Cross-Hatching and Stippling for Tonal Depth in Drawing
Quick fact
Artists can create over 50 distinct tonal values just by varying the spacing and angle of cross-hatching lines, allowing for extreme subtlety in shading.
Why this is interesting
You've likely seen drawings that seem to glow with light and shadow—but look closer, and you'll see they're just fields of tiny lines and dots. How can such simple marks create the illusion of solid form and depth?