Discover Pointallism with Georges Seurat

Georges Seurat was a French Post Impressionist painter that lived from 1859-1891. He is best known for his development of pointillism and his use of optical mixing. Here is a great biography sheet on Seurat - http://makingartfun.com/pdf/seurat-printit-biography.pdf . One of his most popular paintings is entitled "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." View this painting here - grande-jatte.jpg 750×501 pixels. Pointillism is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of pure color are applied in patterns to form an image. In this art lesson, students are going to create their own pointillism picture using optical mixing. Optical color mixing is created through our perception of color. When one looks at two small amounts of different colors laid down side by side the two appear to create a different color. For this project, I gave the students the three primary colors - red, yellow, and blue. By putting two different primary color dots side by side, the viewer's eyes will blend the colors and see a new secondary color (purple, orange, or green.) This is a great time to review how to make secondary colors from primary colors. This link will take you to a great page on color mixing - Color Mixing - Enchanted Learning Software . After a quick lesson on Seurat and color mixing, the kids began their paintings. They followed these simple steps -

1. Sketch the picture to be painted with a pencil to provide some guidelines. Keep the design simple - no small details.

2. Using dots, paint the picture using optical mixing to create secondary colors. The dots must be close together to mix properly.

3. The pictures are finished! Have someone hold your picture for you, step back a bit and let your eyes do the optical mixing! Do you see the secondary colors?

4. Show your beautiful art to your friends and family. Teach them about Seurat, pointillism, and optical mixing. Find a special spot for your new picture in your home and enjoy!