Meaning & use
cross-hatch
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitivetechnical
To shade a drawing by making sets of close parallel lines that cross over other sets of lines at an angle.
Grammar: Can take an object: cross-hatch the shadow; or stand alone: she cross-hatched carefully.
Patterns
- cross-hatch something
- cross-hatch with something
He cross-hatched the side of the jug to make it look darker.
Students learn to cross-hatch with a fine pen before moving on to watercolor.
She cross-hatched lightly at first and added more lines where the shadow deepened.
nouncountable or uncountable
A pattern of crossing lines used to give shading or texture to a drawing, or any surface marked in a similar grid.
Grammar: Uncountable for the technique (use cross-hatch for depth); countable for a particular pattern (a cross-hatch on the handle).
Patterns
- a cross-hatch of something
The artist built the dark corner out of a dense cross-hatch.
A fine cross-hatch covers the grip so it does not slip.
You can see the cross-hatch in old engravings of banknotes.
Word forms
| third person singular | cross-hatches |
|---|---|
| past tense | cross-hatched |
| past participle | cross-hatched |
| -ing form | cross-hatching |
Common combinations
- fine cross-hatch
- The portrait is shaded with a fine cross-hatch around the eyes.
- cross-hatch a shadow
- Cross-hatch the shadow under the apple to ground it on the table.
- pen and ink cross-hatching
- Her pen and ink cross-hatching gives the city scenes a dramatic mood.
- dense cross-hatching
- Dense cross-hatching makes an area look almost black.
- cross-hatch pattern
- The cross-hatch pattern on the steel handle improves grip.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hatch
- Hatch means shading with lines running in one direction only, while cross-hatch adds a second set that crosses them.
- shade
- Shade is the general word for darkening part of a drawing by any method, whereas cross-hatch names one specific line technique.
- scribble
- Scribble suggests quick, careless marks, but cross-hatching is controlled and deliberate.
Word family
- cross-hatching noun
- the technique or the resulting pattern of crossing lines
- cross-hatched adjective
- marked with crossing lines
- hatch verb
- to shade with parallel lines
- hatching noun
- shading made of parallel lines
Commonly confused: cross-hatch or crosshatch (hatch of a ship)?
cross-hatch vs crosshatch (hatch of a ship)
Hatch can also mean a hatchway on a ship or a small door, which is unrelated to the shading sense of cross-hatch.
Practice
Which technique best describes how an artist would cross-hatch a shadow?
Choose one answer.
Cross-hatching needs lines that cross over earlier lines. Drawing lines in only one direction is plain hatching, so the last option is tempting but wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cross-hatch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.