Cross Hatched Animals by the 3rd and 4th Graders

These lovely cross-hatched animal drawings were made by my 3rd/4th grade class. The students used pictures from Zoobooks magazine for reference and practiced hatching and crosshatching techniques.

I love using illustrated books to connect with our curriculum. For one, it gives a real life connection. Second, it might spark their interest in reading more quality books.

We looked at the beautiful cross hatched drawings by Brian Selznick, author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck. Those are both awesome books. Many of the students had already read or seen these books, so it was a great way to connect with interests they already had.

drawing by Brian Selznick



 

   

   

   

   

Cross Hatched Animals-- Third/Fourth Grade

Cross-hatching is fun, but a difficult art technique (at least in my opinion).   The third/fourth grade class picked out some animals from Zoobooks magazines and drew them in pencil.  Then, we looked at Brian Selznick's books for inspiration. Wonderstruck
  His novels are full of beautiful cross-hatched drawings, alternating with the chapters.  Plus, the two books I have read by him are charming and wonderful stories.  Read them!  You'll love them too, I guarantee it.  They are listed below.  I think bringing these types of books into the classroom is a great way to tie in to real-life applications and literature, as most of your kids will have seen these books before.  If they haven't seen the books, they will probably want to read them after looking at them.  I photocopy some of the pages and pass them out for the kids to look at.  I also have the books available on the table for the kids to browse if they wish.  Your school library might have them, but I purchased copies for my classroom.





After the kids drew their animals, I demonstrated the cross-hatching and shading for them and the kids made sure to keep their reference pictures close by.

Cross Hatched Animals

Hatching and Cross-Hatching  by the 3/4s

The 3/4s are learning about hatching and cross-hatching.  They explored this technique in a portrait drawing.  After a quick practice of portrait drawing, the students moved on to a cross hatched animal.  Animal pictures lend themselves better to this technique, because there is a lot of texture on the surface of an animal.