Tutored Life Drawing Inspiration Blog Week 06: Cross Hatching (Patreon)

Now, it's been a challenge to pick 3 artists for cross-hatching inspiration this week. While great historical printmakers like Kathë Kollovitz or Rembrandt Van Rijn are obvious choices they will be included in other posts, so here are our three inspirational picks for this week (although I haven't included Rembrandt, if you can get a hold of this incredible Taschen book, you'll be able to see his exemplary cross-hatching reproduced at full scale). These blog posts, which accompany our existing 34-week tutored life drawing course of blogs and videos, are intended to point you towards artists that you might not have encountered and to remind you of artists you might have forgotten about. 

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Georgio Morandi

Italian painter and printmaker Giorgio Morandi (1890 – 1964) is best know for his quiet, thoughtfully composed still life paintings and etchings. Although he didn't produced any well known figure work, the visual langue that he employed in his etchings is particularly pertinent to todays theme. In his etchings Morandi almost exclusively uses a combination of vertical, horizontal and 45 degree diagonal lines to build up blocks of tone, avoiding marks which follow the cross-contour of the subject, describing the forms of the subject through shadows shapes alone. 

• Read more about Giorgio Morandi HERE 
• Watch a short video about Giorgio Morandi HERE 

Still Life of Vases on a Table by Giorgio Morandi, 1931, etching

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Alphonso Dunn

We're going to look at two contemporary artists this week, starting with the American artist Alphonso Dunn , who specialises in detailed pen and ink drawing that provide an excellent example of cross hatching which follows the cross-contour of the surface of a subject. On his popular Youtube Channel he demonstrates how he makes his marks and discusses the choices that inform the lines he lays down. 

• Dunn's book Pen and Ink can be found HERE 
• Follow Alphonso Dunn's on Instagram HERE 

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August Lamm

Our second contemporary artist is another American, August Lamm. Alongside a successful career as an illustrator (specialising in cross hatched drawing) August Lamm writes eloquently about the application of the visual vocabulary of cross hatching and is currently working on a definitive book on the subject. We'll be sharing more details once it is released!  

• Need some music to cross-hatch to? Listen to August's music HERE 
• Follow August Lamm on Instagram HERE 

Distorted self portait by August Lamm

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The blog posts in the 34-week tutored life drawing course are available to all supporters, the full course of videos and reference photos are available to life and student tier supporters.

>> Read the Week 06: Cross Hatching blog post HERE (All Tiers)
>> Watch the Week 06: Cross Hatching main lesson HERE (Student & Life Tiers)
>> Watch the Week 06: Cross Hatching demo video HERE (Student & Life Tiers)

Find links to the whole Tutored Life Drawing Course HERE