The Stipple Technique

In the Graphite Module, Exercise 3, you’ll be asked to demonstrate three different shading techniques: stippling, hatching/cross-hatching, and continuous tone. Later, in Exercise 6, you’ll return to the same subject and redraw it, this time applying each of these techniques in turn.

I begin with stippling because it’s such a valuable foundation: it trains the eye and hand to be patient, accurate, and consistent, while also giving you excellent control over tonal values. Learning to build form slowly with dots develops discipline, which will support you in every other shading method you use later.

In this post, I want to focus a little more on stipple—its uses, and why it remains such a core technique in botanical illustration. I’ve also included a short video demonstration of a small quince fruit drawn in ink, using stippling.

What is the Stipple Technique?

Stippling is a drawing technique that uses small dots, made with the point of a pencil or pen, to create shading and form. By varying the density of the dots, you can suggest light and shadow: the closer the dots are placed, the darker the shading will appear; the further apart they are, the lighter it will look. Usually, stippling is contained within an outline, but if the subject has a soft or fuzzy edge, the outline itself can be formed from dots.

Why is Stippling Used in Botanical Illustration?

Stippling has long been a standard technique in traditional botanical illustration, particularly in printed journals such as Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. These illustrations were often created in ink, with stippling kept fairly simple to ensure clarity and accuracy. The purpose was primarily scientific: the plant’s features needed to be clear enough for identification, and the technique also reproduced well when reduced in size for publication. Black-and-white ink illustrations were also far less expensive to print than colour plates.

Although stippling is used for scientific necessity, it can also be used in a more artistic way, adding texture and character to your drawings.

If you’d like to try this exercise in ink rather than pencil, for the exercise, please feel free to do so.

Materials:

2H pencil

Pigma Micron pens, 005 and 01 are used in the drawing

Smooth paper can be preferable, the Stillman an Birn sketchbook is ideal and in the demonstration I used Fabriano Disegno 4 , which is a low cost smooth paper, ideal for line work and ink but less suited to tonal drawing . But any good quality smooth paper can be used

Putty eraser

Process

1. The first stage is the same as any other drawing, measure height and width of the subject and plot the line drawing with a 2H pencil - keeping the line weight light

Pencil outline lightly drawn

2. Take a 01 Pigma Micron pen and draw the outline - keeping the line smooth and clean - there is no room for error with ink

3. Begin to add the dots in the shade areas using the 01 pen , stagger them - keeping fairly even gaps , and leaving the lighter areas clear of dots. Keep the pen upright to avoid mis-shapen or elongated dots.

4. Increase the number of dots in the darkest shade areas - note how upright the pen is.

5. 

   5. Continue withthe same approach but take the smaller pen to add dots to the left side and smaller dots in the transition ares from dark to light. Use a magnifying glass to see and avoid unintentionally overlapping dots if possible. Once dry remove the pencil lines with a putty eraser and add any finishing touches

6. 

   
   

   Here is a video documenting the process, I hope you find it helpful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGm_MV0UnSQ

A few examples from a demo page. Note the difference in density of dots lighter and darker subjects in lighter and darker parts. For example the Cyclamen hederifolium flower is white, so far less dots and a smaller size of dots are used with a 003 size pen - the stem is dark and more dots in closer proximity are used but grading into white for the highlight - a 005 size pen was used for this purpose.

Next time: I will demonstrate the Hatching technique