Georges Seurat and

Pointillism

About the Artist

• Georges Seurat was born in Paris, France

in December 1859

• Enrolled in prestigious Art School, but

quit and did one year of Military Service

• He returned and worked on his own,

producing small-scale paintings and

mastered the art of black & white

drawing

• Formed the Societe des Artistes

Independants - (independent artist society)

Colors and Color Blending

• The color wheel was designed around this time by artists

• The color wheel shows how different colors

blend together to enhance each other

• Just as dark and light colors enhance eachother,

any color is heightened when placed beside its

“complement” - located on the other side of the

Color Wheel

• These observations in color helped Seurat develop the

“Pointillism” painting technique

Pointillism

• Seurat used tiny dots of primary colors (Red, Yellow & Blue), side by side to build form in his paintings

• These confetti-size dots do a strange thing when you look at them from far away. Different color dots blend together to create new colors. They also look like they shimmer. This is because the dots play a trick on your eyes - this trick is called “optical mixing.”

• This became known as “Pointillism”: a technique of painting in which a lot of dots

are combined to form a picture. This was also known as “divisionism.”

Georges Seurat’s 1st Masterpiece

• Seurat’s 1st painted

masterpiece took 2 years

to create - it was

completed in 1886.

• It is called “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” more commonly known as “Sunday at the Park”. It is currently displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago.

More Paintings by Georges Seurat

Examples of Pointillism Paintings by other Artists

Our Project . . .

How to Begin Your Pointillism

Painting

• Step 1 - Draw an

outline in pencil

• You will be filling in

the areas with dots

• Be patient and do a

good job!

• Choose your paint colors:

-3 to blend for background

light - medium - dark

• Chose colors for eye ball

• Leave Left and Right side of the eye pure white for contrast

• Paint on the “eyelashes”

LAST - after the eye and background is complete