Some of the first types of two-dimensional line art to be mass produced were woodcut illustrations. These were created by carving a block of wood so that the areas in relief were left blank and the raised wood left a mark. The same principle is used on rubber stamps. Ink was rolled over these panels and then they were pressed against paper, leaving behind the black and white illustration.
You can create your own woodcut print by drawing an image onto a flat sheet of wood. You can then use wood carving tools like gouges to scrape away all the areas that you do not wish to be inked. Once you have rolled ink onto the block you can press a sheet of paper evenly over the block to create a print.
Pen and ink illustration is another common form of two-dimensional line art. Some of the most popular forms of this artwork are comic strips in newspapers and comic books. These black and white illustrations are cheap to reproduce. They also are easy to understand due to the simplicity of their style and monotone color. Pen and ink illustrations are also used as artwork in the beginning of chapters in books.
Pen and ink illustrations commonly make use of a technique called "crosshatching". This technique uses small strokes of perpendicular lines to create shading and depth. Political cartoonists like Kevin Kalluagher incorporate this technique as a dominant part of their style.