{"title":"How to Draw With Stippling: Shade a Sphere With Dots","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/drawing/how-to-draw-with-stippling","category":{"slug":"drawing","name":"Drawing"},"creator":{"name":"Ms. Cooper's Art Class","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs-_OZLvvM3vcZ8DQv7IIdA","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFqNSEsQzhk"},"tldr":"Learn how to draw with stippling: build a dotted value scale, then shade a sphere from dark to light with a fine pen. Tips for smooth dots.","quickAnswer":"Learn how to draw with stippling: build a dotted value scale, then shade a sphere from dark to light with a fine pen. An easy project: about 1 hour 30 minutes. You need 6 things, including smooth Bristol or drawing paper, Micron 05 pen and finer Micron pens. The 9 steps start with start a Stippling Value Scale With Light Dots, pack Dense Dots Into the Dark End of the Value Scale and know What Stippling Is Not.","totalDurationSeconds":377,"videoDurationSeconds":377,"difficulty":"easy","project":{"difficulty":"easy","projectMinutes":90,"waitMinutes":null,"totalMinutes":90,"estimatedCost":null,"yield":null},"tools":["Micron 05 pen","finer Micron pens (01, 005)","pencil","kneaded eraser","drawing compass or a jar lid"],"materials":["smooth Bristol or drawing paper"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Start a Stippling Value Scale With Light Dots","text":"Draw a long rectangle on your paper. This is a value scale, a strip that runs from light to dark. Tap a few dots into the left end, spaced well apart. Then add more as you move right, a little closer together each time. Keep the pen straight up and lift it fully between dots. You are training your hand to make a clean round dot every time."},{"number":2,"title":"Pack Dense Dots Into the Dark End of the Value Scale","text":"At the right end of the rectangle, pack your dots in tight. This is the darkest value, and you will see it looks almost solid black from a step back. Your pen moves fast here. Then work back toward the light end, placing each new dot in the middle of the gap between others. The goal is a smooth fade with no sudden jumps."},{"number":3,"title":"Know What Stippling Is Not","text":"Draw a couple of small boxes beside your scale and try the marks to avoid. Little hairs, dust flecks and tick marks happen when the pen drags. Tiny circles happen when you move the pen around. Both look interesting, but neither one is stippling. Seeing them next to real dots makes it easier to catch yourself when your hand gets tired and starts to slide."},{"number":4,"title":"Sketch a Circle and Light Source for a Stippled Sphere","text":"Lightly draw a circle in pencil. A drawing compass or a jar lid works well. In one corner, sketch a little sun and label it as the light source. Everything you shade will follow from that mark. Then start scattering a few dots inside the circle with your pen, spread wide apart, to start the base layer."},{"number":5,"title":"Lay a Light Base Layer of Dots Over the Sphere","text":"Keep adding dots until the whole circle has an even, light covering. This base layer shows you how dark the brightest part of the sphere will be. Spread the dots evenly. Avoid clusters now, because clumps in the light areas are the hardest thing to fix later. The circle should look like a soft grey disk, not yet round."},{"number":6,"title":"Place the Darkest Core Shadow Dots Opposite the Light","text":"Find the side of the sphere farthest from your light source. That is where the core shadow goes. Pack dots into a curved band along that side. It takes a while to build real darkness, so be patient. Make sure every mark is a dot and not a scribble. Real dots look neater and more even from a distance."},{"number":7,"title":"Leave a Lighter Rim for Reflected Light on the Sphere","text":"Look at the bottom edge of your sphere. Keep the darkest band a little way in from the outline, not right on it. When a ball sits on a table, light bounces off the surface and back onto its underside. That thin rim is a touch lighter than the core shadow. Leaving it is what makes the sphere look round instead of flat."},{"number":8,"title":"Spread Stipple Dots From Dark Into Light","text":"Now blend. Start at the edge of the dark band and add dots that spread out as you move toward the light. Work in small sections and do it slowly, the same way you built the value scale. Going from dark into light keeps you from overdoing the middle tones. Even out both sides of the sphere so the gradient wraps around evenly."},{"number":9,"title":"Even Out Clumps With Tiny Stipple Dots","text":"Look for white gaps and spots where dots crowd together. Instead of pressing for a full dot, barely tap the paper to make the smallest dot you can. Add enough of these and the shading turns smooth. This finishing pass takes the most time. When you are happy, let the ink dry and gently erase the pencil outline."}],"commonProblems":[],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-11-04T14:00:36.470Z","published":"2026-11-04T14:00:36.133Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit Show Me Step by Step with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure. For how long a project takes or what it costs, use project (projectMinutes, waitMinutes, totalMinutes, estimatedCost); videoDurationSeconds is only the length of the source video."}