Georges Seurat Pointillism Art Lesson for Kids

Dot art lessons for kids are always a great lesson, as drawing with cotton swabs and other materials to create dots to create a beautiful image is a fun and exciting journey.

This art lesson will give you some information about Seurat himself so you can teach a little art history, then show you how to create a pointillist piece easily.

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George Seurat was an artist who created some amazing works of art using a technique called pointillism.

When you look at his paintings from a distance, they seem like what you would normally see in a painting, with beautiful landscapes and colors, but as you get closer to them, you begin to realize that there is more to them than you initially expected. They are made up of dots.

You can teach this to a group or just to your kids, just make sure that when you get your supplies ready, you have one of the things listed for each person drawing.

George Seurat was born in December 1859 and lived until March 1891. He was French. His most famous painting is called “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”.

He was a very intelligent painter and illustrator who took painting to a new level through his use of color and technique.

He appeared after Impressionism had become popular at its peak, and his works are considered Neo-Impressionist or pointillism, in which the artist depicts urban and natural landscapes but assembled using dots of paint of different colors.

Some of his early works bear similarities to the popular Impressionist style of Monet and similar painters, but this style gradually evolved over time and became the style for which he became famous.

He has a good understanding of color theory concepts and uses colors next to each other to complement and enhance each other when strategically placed in paintings.

Georges Seurat’s Dotwork Lessons for Kids

What you will need:

• small canvas – I’ve used anything from 5” squares to 8” x 10” but if time is a factor (I definitely recommend going smaller, as this is time consuming)
• Acrylic paint comes in basic colors, along with many other colors.
• palette or paper plate
• Cotton swab
• tissue
• glass of water
• Disposable tablecloth or cover
• wiper
• pencil and eraser

Step by step instructions

Before we begin, let’s take a look at Seurat’s biography and then explain a little about the concept of pointillism to the kids so they can grasp it before they start drawing.

I’ve taught this a few times and found that if they jump right in, they can miss the opportunity to actually make it work but assume they know what to do.

First, lay down a canvas or tablecloth and paint the color of your child’s choice onto a plate along with the other supplies.

The canvases may look small, but when you’re just using dots to create the painting, it takes time. Before they start painting, they’ll need to choose a subject and lightly sketch an outline on the canvas.

Draw a picture

They can draw lines to represent shading or areas where they want to change color. There is no need to draw too much as it will be hidden.

If you have a color wheel, refresh your child’s memory of colors, especially complementary colors. Then ask your child to choose at least 2 main colors that he or she wants in his or her painting.

Whatever the main color is, they should also use complementary colors for it, so if they choose 2 colors, they should actually have 4 colors.

Some kids will choose different colors that aren’t technically “Complementary” to the primary color, which is okay, but it helps kids make choices when they’re unsure.

Paint

Once the subject is drawn, children can begin dabbing paint with cotton swabs.

Ask them to do one area at a time, such as the background or foreground first, then move on to another area.

If their subject is red, using red and yellow dots next to each other on it will look great.

Then green would be a great background or accent color to use in the next section…etc.

In a painting, shown as a photo, of a sandy beach and a bucket of water, he used brown and yellow for the sand and this makes the painting look really amazing.

Kids can come up with some great combinations, but sometimes they need help choosing.

And if you have multiple paintings at once, be sure to keep an eye out, as some paintings are just solid colors.

The best way to paint even faster is to use 2 cotton swabs at the same time. Dip the cotton swab in the paint, dab it a few times, then dip it again and repeat.

If you make the dots close together it will be full. Leaving spaces between the dots will make it harder to do a good job.

Now, you just need to focus on the task until you finish coloring all the colors.

Depending on the size of the painting, it can get a little frustrating if it takes too long. I recommend they take a minute break between coloring sessions to give their eyes and hands a rest.

Some kids will have no problem at all, but I know some kids find this quite boring.

Just reassure them that the effort will pay off and look great.

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Categories: Activities for Kids
Source: fetb.edu.vn