LESSON PRESENTATION INSTRUCTIONS VALUE

POINTILLISM

Artist: Georges Seurat – Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte

Students will paint a picture in the style of Seurat.

Time Required: 1 hour

Lesson Objectives: Artist appreciation. Demonstrate how the use of color in different values creates depth and light.

Materials: 8”x10” canvas board, or poster board Removable tape Acrylic paints Paper plate for palette Cotton swabs

Procedure: 1. Before class, apply tape around border of canvas board. 2. Discuss artist and artwork. Define and explain value and Pointillism. 3. Demonstrate techniques: Show how two different colors of dots placed close together create the illusion of the color they would create when mixed; how to change the value of a color by adding darker or lighter colors to create shadows and light; and how the space between the dots affect the value of a single color. 4. Students will use cotton swabs dipped lightly in paint to build up a picture using all dots. Students are encouraged to fill the entire page with color – leaving no white spaces, up to and onto the taped edge. White paint is where white is represented in the picture. 5. Carefully remove tape only after painting is complete.

Tips or Options: Paper without removable tape can be used and then trimmed to get a “clean” edge. This project could be done with oil pastels. Students enjoy looking at the art prints with a magnifying glass. GRADE 4 – LESSON PRESENTATION NOTES VALUE

Pointillism: Dots of paint put close to each other, which the eye turns into blocks of color.

Georges Seurat (1859-1891) Young Georges Seurat lived in Paris where his mother and uncle taught him to paint and draw. Seurat then decided to spend the rest of his life painting. He started a whole new way of working called “pointillism”. He would put different colored dots of paint next to each other to build up a whole picture. Many summers were spent by the sea painting the same view, yet each painting looks very different.

A French painter who was a leader in the neo-impressionist movement of the late 19th century, Georges Seurat is the ultimate example of the artist as scientist. He spent his life studying color theories and the effects of different linear structures. His 500 drawings alone establish Seurat as a great master, but he will be remembered for his technique called pointillism, or divisionism, which uses small dots or strokes of contrasting color to create subtle changes in form.

One of Seurat’s aims was to give a great deal of feeling to his work. He used pale colored dots to give a sense of light and space. What do you feel when you look at this picture?