Next time someone is clearing out background material, could you post closeups of how it should look, before and after stippling? Thanks- I'm finding myself needing visual references!
Catharine, I working on one, and I will make some making of photos. I started this one months ago, a crazy job to remove all this tiny little background.
It is a design John B. helped me working it out. The background is removed, I only will have to fine tune that using my smallest carbide bur, 0.2mm.
But instead of stippling it with one punch at a time, I will use sandblasting to have a equal structure on the background.
Then I'm gone colour the background, as this is Ti, who could have guessed, brass colour.
After that I will do the shading.
So perhaps not that what you are asking for, but sandblasting instead of stippling works great and it is faster and looks better.