Wrist exercises for hatching

Trying to improve my hatching skills, I recently took a course on Domestika, Manual Illustration Techniques: Hatching and Dripping by an Italian illustrator, Sara Paglia.

I'd like to share some simple exercises that were introduced to help improve the fluidity and smoothness of the stretch. When I draw, my hand is still shaky and insecure. And I frequently experience stiffness after drawing something intensely for an extended period of time. With these exercises, you can not only practice different types of hatching, but also perfect your pen grip and pressure, as well as relax your wrist before a drawing session to avoid stiffness.

Drawing parallel lines with a thinner marker to practice precision is one example of an exercise. To be more precise, bring the pen closer to the tip. To achieve a gradient, draw parallel or oblique lines with different thickness markers. Using a thin marker, draw curves. When filling a specific space, it is easier to begin in the center to better deal with broken lines near the frame.

I frequently find myself drawing impatiently, so I appreciate how these exercises, and hatching in general, encourage you to slow down when drawing. I'm drawn to the hatching technique for a few reasons. Great effects can be achieved with inexperienced hands; after all, the imperfections in hand drawn illustrations are what make them look the best. Hatching is also great because it limits you to using essentially only one tool to create patterns and gradients with your strokes, allowing you to be more creative.