DRAWING 101
Stippling
Module 4 - Lecture
Giulio Campagnola (1482-1515) is credited for inventing this style of drawing. Campagnola was an Italian printmaker who used stippling in his compositions. Up until his time, hatching and cross-hatching were the standard method of prepping a work for print. His earlier work was heavily influenced by Albrecht Durer, whose work with hatching we studied earlier in this course.
So, what is involved in this drawing technique? The short answer is … patience. Lots and lots of patience. It is a very time-consuming approach to drawing, however it can also be very therapeutic for those who need a little patience in their busy life. The amount of precision that goes into stippling is beyond that of other drawing techniques.
Here are a couple of videos going over the process.
Miguel Endara is considered the most competent stippling artist of our time. He has certainly mastered this technique and his precision on dot placement blurs the line of realism and drawing with dots.
This closeup details the amount of precision Endara utilizes in his pieces. There are over 250,000 dots in this section alone.
Stippling is often confused with pointillism. The main difference between the two approaches to the composition is in the medium used. Stippling is often done in pencil or pen, whereas pointillism is utilizing paint and brush. Stippling is done is one tone of color, whereas pointillism is varied colors to add depth alongside the proximity of the dots. Fun fact: stippling is the grandfather of pointillism as it this technique was invented way before pointillism gained popularity as a technique in painting.
The image on the left utilizes the stippling technique. The image on the right is pointillism. There are subtle differences that separate the two techniques.
Here is a short video disccusing the differences between the two techniques.
Additional Viewing.
Did I mention you need patience in order to master the technique of stippling? Here is a short video showing art master Miguel Endara using the method in a composition and tallying the amount of dots used to accomplish his art piece. Enjoy!