How to Stipple

Stippling is an artistic technique whereby the artist places an intricate series of small dots together to achieve continuous tone in a drawing. How dark or how light the artist applies the dots will determine the dark or light shading on the subject being rendered. Practice on simple geometric shapes before attempting a self portrait or the mighty oak across the meadow. How far or how close the dots are arranged will determine the degree of perceived solidity of the subject being portrayed. To create dark tones and deep shadows do any of the following:

1.         Make larger dots
2.         Create darker dots
3.         Draw dots close together.

The denser, tighter the spacing of the dots, the darker the tones will appear. Conversely, to simulate light areas on a subject. Make the dots finer:

1.         Use a soft touch when making dots.
2.         Place the dots farther apart form one another.

PENCIL STIPPLING

When using a pencil, tap and twist. Tap the pencil straight down on the paper and twist the pencil tip onto the paper. This will assure a dark and evenly rounded stipple mark. Using the softest, darkest pencil from the end “B” range of pencil leads will help.

PEN STIPPLING

Pens come in a wide range of nibs (or pen tip size) and contain any mix of ink product so shop around and find what feels most comfortable. When using a pen there is no need to employ the tap and twist technique. The mere touch of the pens nib to the surface of the paper will produce a stipple mark. Concentrate still on a straight landing of the pen tip to the paper in an effort to avoid ‘tails’ on the end of your stipple dot.

PAPER

You will have best results stippling on white, hot-pressed (smooth) surfaced paper. A fibrous paper will tend to blur the ink and a cold pressed (rough) paper will slow down your hypnotic mark making staccato. The combination black ink against a white ground will produce a dramatic clarity not achieved with other media. This resulting high contrast will produce splendidly in publication, even on low budget projects using inexpensive papers on an ancient home printer running low on toner.

COLOR

For something completely different, a sheer transparent layer of watercolor paint over the high contrast black/white stippled page can soften the look to breathtaking highs. Hello Pierre Joseph Redoute, famous painter of rose portraits!

Although modern technology has made it no longer necessary to spend hours dotting pen to paper, attracting puzzled woodpeckers. The stipple technique is not likely to go away. It remains an ideal technique for work done under the microscope. Plant sections, macro-sized segments such as flower parts and seeds, and the varied textures and veining found top and back of leaves can be clearly delineated by the look of stipple. The tradition remains appealing by todays generation of botanical artists, paleontological illustrators, and natural science illustrators for its ability to show details crisply and simply.

-Cynthia Padilla

Cynthia Padilla-Come along as we learn and improve drawing skills through direct observation.  Explore the traditional dry media applications of graphite pencil, colored pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, and pastels.  I am a national instructor of drawing and sketching through the traditions of Plein Air Field Sketching, the Botanical Arts and Naturalist Illustration.

See Also: