William Shakespeare

About this work

This is a black-and-white portrait of a man with a bald head and a short, neatly trimmed beard. He’s wearing a high-collared shirt with ruffles at the neck, and his sleeves are decorated with vertical lines and buttons down the front. The background is plain, keeping all focus on his face. The artist used fine lines to show shadows and texture, especially on the collar and hair. This kind of detailed linework is called *cross-hatching*. Next, check out how engraving works to create such sharp details.