art masterpiece: (a sunday afternoon on the … masterpiece: (a sunday afternoon on the island of)...

ART MASTERPIECE: (A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of)La Grande Jatte, 1884-86 by Georges Seurat

Pronunciation: Zhorzh, Soo-RAHKeywords: Pointillism, Warm and Cool Colors Pointillism: A method of painting in which the canvas is covered with tiny dots of color. When viewed at a distance, the colors blend together. The viewer’s eyes do the mixing. Warm Colors: colors with red or yellow in them such as red, yellow, orange and pink. These remind people of warm things. Cool Colors: colors with green or blues in them such as green, blue and purple and violet. These remind people of cool places, things and feelings.Grade: 1st gradeProject: Painting with PointillismPowerpoint: KGA websiteVideo: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owu1mv1qnAo (2:37 min - The Art of Pointillism) Website: www.georgesseurat.org DO NOT SHOW IN CLASS! This link is only for parents to view with their children, if they wish, since there are some nude pictures.

Meet the Artist (5 min):• Born in France in 1859 to a wealthy family that supported his desire to be an artist. He

received art schooling in Paris.• Initially rejected by the impressionist artists of the day, he decided to associate with other

artists and created a new style that was the “new” impressionism. Impressionists painted in a manner that the painting was the image you see if you just took a quick look at it. Neoimpressionists painted so that it was more orderly, more scientific.

Property of Knox Art Masterpiece Revised July 26, 2013

• Eventually, his artwork was titled pointillism (although he never cared for this title). In pointillism, the artist uses dots or dashes to complete a picture. The paintings tend to look grainy, up close one would only see “points” or small dashes, from farther away, a picture emerges.

• His paintings were very large and he painted only a handful of complete paintings in his lifetime and 60 smaller paintings. He did sketch many others, though. This was in part due to his neoimpressionism. He sought to make every inch of the canvas perfect. He sometimes took years to finish a painting.

• He died at an early age in 1891 (31 years old), from what many believed to be diphtheria, a disease of the respiratory system that no longer affects us due to vaccinations.

Discussion (10 min): • What colors do you see? Are they cool colors or warm colors?• Is it realistic or is it dreamy, or both?• How does it look when you are right in front of it, and when sitting at your desk? (colors blend from a distance)• How did Seurat put the paint on the canvas? (tiny dots)• Do you think he did this painting quickly? (about 2 years)• What is going on in the painting?• Have you ever been to a lake or the ocean? Have student describe the experience using their

senses, ears, eyes, smell, taste…• This painting was done over 100 years ago. How can you tell? (The way people are dressed) • Do the people look like they are enjoying themselves?• What else is in the Background? (sailboats)• What would you name this painting?

Color Theory: COOL colors: Green, Blue, Purple WARM colors: Red, Yellow, Orange

Colors affect the mood or feeling of the subject. Artists will use warm and cool colors together to create depth or dimension in their artwork. Cool colors tend to recede, warm colors seem to come forward.

Project: Painting Using Pointillism

Project Materials: 8”x10” clip art copied onto white card stock paper (alternate white construction paper), various images 9”x12” Black construction paper for mounting Tempera paints; yellow, orange, red - green, blue, purple Q-tips, Flimsy paper plates for the paint; 2 per table, 1 for warm colors, 1 for cool colors


White glue (6-8 bottles) Newspaper to cover desks Parent Letters - 1 per student

Advance Preparation: Copy clip art onto white card stock, then cut to 8”x10” Copy and cut Parent Letters

Mini Lesson (5 min): Show them how to use the Q-tips in this project. Instruct students to use in an up-and-

down, dabbing motion, NOT as a paintbrush. They should not ‘scrub’ their painting with it.

Process (30-40 min):• Divide class in half. One half will work with warm colors and the other cool. • Pour tempera paint onto paper plates; COOL color tables will have green, blue and purple paint on their plate. WARM color tables will have red, yellow and orange paint on their plate. • Pass out a variety of images. • Using only the Q-tips dipped LIGHTLY into the paint on the plates, fill the spaces. • Encourage them to use different color combinations on their artwork. Example; warm

artworks can combine red and yellow on a dress, then yellow and orange on the shirt, etc.• Remind them that they want to see the individual dots up close, but from far away, they

should blend together. Students can get up periodically and look at their artwork from a few feet away.

• Students should NOT mix paint colors, only using the three colors given to create their artwork.

• See how much of the paper they can get filled in with closely placed dots. • When they’re done, hand out Parent Letters, have them sign it, glue to mounting paper then

glue artwork to mounting paper.

Clean Up: Throw away paper plates, newspapers and Q-Tips. Make sure paint bottles are closed tightly and stored upright in the supply bin.


art masterpiece: (a sunday afternoon on the … masterpiece: (a sunday afternoon on the island of)...

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