Isn't this what Tufte refers to as "chartjunk"?
http://csarven.ca/one-plus-one-equals-three-or-more
These textures are noisy. There can be occasions to use textures, but these examples would work just as well with shades of gray.
I am ignorant as to what tools a draft-mans hand for shading then, but I am sure hatching would be easier than creating a fine range of halftone grays.
> Can optical art effects ever produce a better graphic? Bertin exhorts: “It is the designer’s duty to make the most of this variation; to obtain the resonance [of moiré vibration] without provoking an uncomfortable sensation: to flirt with ambiguity without succumbing to it.” But can statistical graphics successfully “flirt with ambiguity”? It is a clever idea, but no good examples are to be found. The key difficulty remains: moiré vibration is an undisciplined ambiguity, with an illusive, eye-straining quality that contaminates the entire graphic. It has no place in data graphical design.
Tufte recommends Imhof’s book Cartographic Relief Presentation on the subject of choosing colors for data graphics, and I’d second the recommendation.
Or for something online, take a look at Cynthia Brewer’s work.