How to make a dotty halftone gradient effect?

[Albacore]

How about using Dmitry Malutin’s Spray from here that might help and it can be downloaded from here: http://xaraxtv.at.tut.by/spray.htm
You could generate the dots and maybe make a brush out of it or just generate with the spray and remove design with Shape Eraser Tool.

[handrawn]

don't have any time to play with this - but I would use a brush and bump up the jitter [scatter\spacing]

rough attached, done in artweaver - which is a free painter clone - I believe it is still going strong

[Albacore]

Sorry forgot that I had quite a few that I have used in Illy. Brought them into Xara so if you can use them please do.

[angelize]

There are some 3rd party plugins that can do halftone effects and run very well from Xara. Richard Rosenman's half tone is free or if you can afford it Alien Skin snap art also has some half tone effect with in the comics effects