Stop Going Over the Same Spot: Here's What's Actually Happening and How to Fix It for Good
Introduction
You're coloring along, layering carefully, and then you notice them: tiny white specks scattered across your work, like the paper is fighting back. No matter how many times you go over the same spot, those little dots refuse to disappear.
This is one of the most common frustrations for anyone working with colored pencils, and the good news is that it has a clear explanation and straightforward fixes. Once you understand what's causing it, you'll know exactly what to do, and you'll be able to avoid it from the start.
1 - Why White Dots Appear: The Real Cause
The white dots you're seeing are not a sign that you're doing something wrong. They are actually a feature of how paper is made, just one that becomes visible at the wrong moment.
Most paper has a textured surface made up of tiny raised peaks and recessed valleys. This texture is called tooth, the rougher the paper, the more tooth it has. When you color over it, the colored pencil deposits pigment on the peaks but skips over the valleys. Those skipped valleys show up as white dots.
The problem becomes more noticeable when:
- The paper has a lot of tooth (rough or textured surface)
- You're coloring with light pressure
- You're using a lighter pencil color over a white background
- You're trying to fill a large, even area
It's the same paper working beautifully for other techniques, the tooth is what allows pigment to grip in the first place. The challenge is learning to work with it rather than against it.
2 - Fix 1: Adjust Your Pressure Gradually
One of the most effective ways to cover white dots is to build pressure in layers rather than pressing hard from the start.
When you press too hard too soon, two things happen: the pencil flattens the tooth before enough pigment has built up, and you lose the ability to add more layers later because the paper becomes slick. You end up with uneven coverage and no way to fix it.
A better approach:
- Start with light pressure to lay down a base layer of color
- Add a second layer with slightly more pressure, using small circular or back-and-forth strokes to work into the valleys
- Add a third layer pressing harder, focusing on areas where white dots are still visible
Each layer fills a little more of the tooth. By the third layer, most white dots are gone, and you still have control over the result.
For a full breakdown of how pressure affects the final result, the article on colored pencil pressure control covers this technique in detail.
3 - Fix 2: Change How You Hold and Move the Pencil
The angle of your pencil and the direction of your strokes also affect how well pigment fills the tooth.
When you hold the pencil at a steep angle (almost vertical), the tip contacts mostly the peaks. When you hold it at a lower angle, the side of the tip drags across more of the surface, including the valleys.
Try this: hold the pencil at a lower angle, about 45 degrees or less, and use slow, deliberate strokes. You'll notice the coverage improves almost immediately, especially on textured paper.
Circular strokes also help more than straight lines for this specific problem. They approach the valleys from multiple directions, which fills them more evenly.
4 - Fix 3: Use Burnishing to Fill the Tooth
Burnishing is a technique where you use heavy pressure with a light-colored pencil, often white or cream, to push pigment down into the paper's valleys and create a smooth, filled surface.
It's one of the most reliable ways to eliminate white dots completely, and it also gives the finished area a polished, almost waxy look.
How to do it:
- Build two or three normal layers of color first
- Take a white or cream colored pencil (or a colorless blender pencil if you have one)
- Press firmly and go over the area in small circular strokes
- The pigment from previous layers gets pushed into the valleys, and the white dots disappear
The result is a fully saturated, smooth patch of color. The trade-off is that you can't add many more layers after burnishing, the paper tooth is nearly gone at that point, so it works best as a finishing step.
There's a dedicated article on burnishing with colored pencils if you want to explore this technique further.
5 - Fix 4: Choose Paper with Less Tooth
If white dots are a constant problem for you, the paper itself might be part of the issue.
Papers with a very pronounced texture, like watercolor paper or heavily textured drawing paper, have deep valleys that are genuinely hard to fill with colored pencils alone. They're designed for other media and can make smooth coverage almost impossible.
For colored pencil work, look for paper with a medium tooth: enough grip to hold multiple layers of pigment, but not so rough that coverage becomes a struggle. Bristol smooth paper, marker paper, and dedicated colored pencil paper tend to work well. Smooth cardstock is another accessible option that many colorists use for coloring pages.
If you're working in a coloring book, the paper is fixed and you can't change it, but you can compensate with the burnishing technique above or by adjusting your pressure and stroke angle.
6 - Fix 5: Check Your Pencil Quality
Not all colored pencils deposit pigment the same way. Student-grade pencils often have a harder, drier core that sits on top of the paper rather than sinking into it. This makes them more prone to leaving white dots, especially at light or medium pressure.
Artist-grade pencils have a softer, more pigment-rich core that flows more easily across the paper surface. They fill the tooth more effectively, and they blend and layer more smoothly overall.
This doesn't mean you need expensive pencils to get good results. But if you're struggling with consistent white dots even after adjusting pressure and technique, the pencils themselves may be part of the answer.
For a comparison of pencil types and what works well for coloring pages, the article on choosing colored pencils for coloring pages is a good starting point.
7 - When White Dots Are Harder to Eliminate
Some situations make white dots more stubborn than others:
Very light colors on white paper. When the color you're applying is close to white, the dots blend in more, but they also become visible when you add a darker color on top later. The fix is to lay down even coverage from the beginning, not just go back and forth over the same area.
Large flat areas. The bigger the area you're trying to fill evenly, the more likely it is that some valleys will get missed. Work in small sections, completing each one before moving on.
Coloring over a previous layer that was pressed too hard. If you've already flattened the tooth without filling the valleys, the paper has less grip for additional layers. Burnishing is the best recovery option in this case.
8 - Putting It Into Practice
The next time you sit down with a coloring page, especially one with large floral areas or smooth backgrounds, try this sequence from the start:
- First pass: light pressure, any direction
- Second pass: medium pressure, circular strokes
- Third pass: heavier pressure, focusing on remaining dots
- Final pass if needed: burnish with white or cream
Most white dot problems resolve within that process without any special tools or materials.
If you're looking for floral coloring pages designed with this kind of layering in mind, where the line weight and design work with your pencil technique rather than against it, the Original Floral Designs Bundle has 72 pages made specifically for colored pencil and watercolor work. It's a good place to practice exactly what's covered here.
Quick Reference
| Cause | Fix |
|---|---|
| Paper tooth too visible | Build layers gradually; use burnishing |
| Pencil held at steep angle | Lower the angle; use circular strokes |
| Pressing too hard too soon | Start light, increase pressure with each layer |
| Very rough paper | Switch to smoother paper or compensate with burnishing |
| Dry, hard pencil core | Try a softer, more pigmented pencil |
Conclusion
White dots are a normal part of working with colored pencils on textured paper. Understanding why they happen changes how you approach coverage from the very first stroke, and that small shift in technique makes a noticeable difference in the final result.
For more on how layering affects the overall look of your work, the article on mastering layering with colored pencils continues from here.
