Pointillism (Georges Seurat)

Georges Seurat:   zhorzh ssörah   ö = like the O in word, zh is a very soft SH sound, ss = sharp S

   The Siene at la Grande Jatte; 1888

Georges Seurat was a painter who was interested in shape and pattern, but he approached these things in a very unusual way. He was the developer of a very scientific way of painting known as pointillism. He used tiny dots of pure color when side by side, give the viewer's eye a chance to blend the color optically, rather than having the colors readily blended on the canvas. This was also known as divisionism.

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of
la Grande Jatte; 1886

I decided to use Pacific Northwest birds as our subject matter so the students could learn about birds they might see in their backyard, and because we didn't have enough time for a landscape painting. We had photos of several birds and some pointillism examples that I found on the internet. 

GeorgesSeurat.org

Project length: 60-75 

minutesAudience: 1st-6th Grade, adjust the paint applicator and subject matter to fit the students' ages
Materials: All available in the Community Room cupboards
- Paper
- Paintbrushes, detail round or pointed round (or Q-tips, small round wooden sticks, etc.)
- Liquid tempera paint
- Examples of Seurat's work (there is a Seurat folder among the artist folders in the cupboard)






 

Feathered Birds (example of mixed media)

Step 3

Project length: 50-60 minutes
Audience: 1st Grade
Materials:
  -white school glue
  -feathers
  -googly eyes

  -pencil, colored pencils or markers

  -colored construction paper for body 

    & beak

  -white card stock or construction paper for the background

These 3 examples were displayed to visually demonstrate the steps involved in the project.

Step 2

The two body parts were pre-cut for the students. They glued the body and beak down onto a piece of paper. Next a googly eye was added.

Step 1

We then passed out feathers of all colors and shapes, and sizes that weren't too small or too big for this project. Some students used all of one color, or used several different colors. (The teacher provided the students with a helpful limitation/recommendation of 8 feathers each, which helped the students narrow down their choices and stay within our time frame.)
The students then used a pencil or markers to add some background or other details.