Creating images, one point at a time

The term Pointillism was first coined by art critics in the late 1880s

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat, 1884

Pointillism is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of pure color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism.

This technique relies on the perceptive ability of the eye and mind of the viewer to mix the color spots into a fuller range of tones.

Detail of ‘Femmes au Puits’, Paul Signac, 1892

Pointillism is a technique with few serious practitioners and is notably seen in the works of Seurat, Signac and more recently, Chuck Close.

If red, blue and green light (the additive primaries) are mixed, the result is something close to white light. Televisions and computer monitors use a pointillist technique to represent images but with Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) colors.

Dimanche (Sunday),

Paul Signac, 1888-1890

The majority of pointillism is done in oil paints, but that is not required. Anything may be used in its place, however, oils are preferred for their thickness and tendency not to run or bleed.

The painting technique used to perform pointillist color mixing is usually used at the expense of traditional brushwork which could be used to delineate texture.

Self Portrait, Vincent Van Gogh, 1887

In this painting Van Gogh has used a pointillist technique, along with visible brush strokes, in a way that helps delineate the texture of the features on the subject, himself.

The practice of Pointillism is in sharp contrast to the more common methods of blending pigments on a palette or using the many commercially available premixed colors.

Pointillism is comparable to the four-color CYMK printing process used by some color printers and large presses, Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow and Key (black).

Introducing: Chuck CloseChuck Thomas Close (born July 5, 1940, Monroe,

Washington) is an American painter and photographer who achieved fame as a photorealist, through his massive-scale portraits. Though a catastrophic spinal artery collapse in 1988 left him severely paralyzed, he has continued to paint and produce work that remains sought after by museums and collectors.

This painting was created using the CYMK printing process utilizing the technique of airbrushing. Each of the four colors would be applied individually.

Mark, Chuck Close, 1978-1979

This painting was created by using an obvious grid, and painting each square individually. Grids are a useful planning tool for any artist that wants precise results.

Lucas, Chuck Close, 1986-1987

Chuck Close often uses grids in the planning and execution of his artworks to ensure that the result is exactly what he’s looking for. His reference photographs are often no bigger than 4 x 5 inches.

This will be especially helpful in your next assignment. A self-portrait created by using your own fingerprints.

Large Phil Fingerprint, Chuck Close, 1979

Fingerprint Portraits

"I chose to do things I had no facility with. The choice not to do something is in a funny way more positive than the choice to do something. If you impose a limit to not do something you've done before, it will push you to where you've never gone before.“

-Chuck Close

Leslie, Chuck Close, 1986

Does this portrait feel any different if I tell you that this is Chuck Close’s wife?

Marta Fingerprint, Chuck Close, 1986

Ghandi fingerprint portrait

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAScgcrXlXE