Stippling: Pen and Ink Dots and Crosshatch

Stippling is an ink drawing technique where you apply various tones and textures with small dots. You can adjust the depth of tone and the roughness of texture by varying the density and distribution of the dots. Like cross hatching, stippling can take on many forms. It can be done free handed or mechanically on your computer. Using carefully or loosely arranged dots of even or uneven densities and distribution. Any small marks, not just dots are good to achieve the stippling effect.

Cross hatching is another pen and ink skill this is often combined with stippling to create depth in the artwork. These are two traditional techniques that have been used by artists for centuries. As strange as it sounds stippling all comes down to specific dot placement. This may seem confusing since it looks so random. When doing a pen and ink drawing I always begin with a light sketch in pencil. I make sure it is perfect and then I transfer the main outlines to an inking surface using graphite transfer paper. I usually use hot press water color paper when doing an ink drawing. It has a smooth durable surface. This paper is good cause it can withstand many lines and ink dots in a small amount of space. Make sure to keep your paper protected, smooth and undamaged. This could effect the way your ink lays on the paper. Now if you are a beginner, regular pens are OK, but you will find as you progress that you may prefer a more technical pen. Then don't blot like a regular pen, or catch the paper, creating possible smudges. Ink does not erase so something like that can force you to start over. Not fun. Pigma Micron pens are good to use, they are inexpensive and widely available.

As far as actual technique goes, I make the ink lines in combination. The first technique is called cross-hatching: small groups of parallel lines are drawn at angles to each other, and are drawn on top of each other, so that shading results. The more lines placed in one area, the darker the shading. I use this technique quite a lot; I find that it is fairly easy to control the buildup of lines, and therefore the amount of shading. Another technique is called "stipple". Tiny dots of ink are used to indicated texture and/or shading. Stipple is an extremely time-consuming technique, since each dot must be carefully placed to avoid the appearance of "pattern" where there may be none. With pen and ink, building from light to shadow is key. You can add color afterward. Accomplishing that with lines only is a unique challenge. One other thing I'll mention is this: there are no outlines in nature. Realism in pen and ink (and in any other medium) depends on approximating as closely as possible what is actually seen, and not what you think is there. But, this is the ultimate charm of pen and ink and why it hold such fascination for me: images can be made to look "real" through the use of texture and careful shading, yet still retain a certain unrealness by virtue of the fact that the image is made up of nothing but lines. As you can see to the right it also may help to section off your original picture. Since you are working with dots and not objects, you can now use your eye to go space by space collecting all the information of one before moving to the next. It makes it just a little easier, to keep you from getting overwhelmed by the mass large picture. You can practice this technique just by drawing and shading simple shapes. Notice how and where the light bounces of the objects you are drawing. Have fun with it.