It's Marion Webster's word of the day for November 1st.

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Today's word is hatching, spelled H-A-T-C-H-I-N-G. Hatching is a noun. It refers to the drawing or engraving of lines close

together as a method of shading or to a pattern so created. Here's the word used in a sentence

from Apollo by Francis Spalding. During the second half of the 19th century, drawing achieved a higher status.

No longer merely a preparatory tool, nor merely just a method for training of the eye,

it gained a new autonomy. Pastel became popular at this time, partly because it was easily

portable and versatile, capable of supporting lively hatching as well as

silky smoothness. Hatching refers to the drawing or engraving of lines close together as a method of

shading. The closer the lines, the darker the impression that is created. When the lines are drawn

at an angle so as to intersect one another, that is called

crosshatching. One notable artist who drew on this technique was John Teniel, the illustrator of

Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Another is Albrecht Durer,

whose sketches have been celebrated for their adept use of

crosshatching to indicate foreshortening, an appearance of something such as a subject's nose

as shortened due to its being pointed toward the viewer. The word hatching is a gerund of the verb

hatch, which in turn comes from the middle French

aschet, meaning to chop, slice up, or in size with fine lines. If hatching isn't your preferred

style of shading, you might also consider stippling or blending. With your word of the day,

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