Start from the widest layer
The widest slice gives you the footprint fastest. Once that ring feels right, moving up or down becomes much easier.
Plan solid spheres, hollow shells, domes, and circles before you place blocks in the world. Step through each layer, compare the silhouette from the top and the front, and copy the current slice as a clean build reference.
The silhouettes answer the practical questions first: how wide the build will read from above, and whether the curve still feels clean from the front.
The widest slice gives you the footprint fastest. Once that ring feels right, moving up or down becomes much easier.
The circle modes are useful on their own for floors, towers, wells, ritual zones, and any top-down round composition.
If the outside silhouette is the goal, a hollow shell usually saves blocks and gives you room for lighting, stairs, and decoration.