To create tone, texture, or shading by applying small dots or short touches with a brush, pen, or other tool, rather than using continuous lines or solid areas of color.
From Dutch stippelen, meaning 'to speckle' or 'to dot,' from stip meaning 'dot' or 'point.' The technique became formalized in printmaking and illustration during the 17th-18th centuries.
Stippling was the Instagram filter of 18th-century printmaking! Engravers discovered that tiny dots could create incredibly subtle tonal effects that continuous lines couldn't achieve, leading to the golden age of stipple engraving where portraits looked almost photographic in their detail and smoothness.
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