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Lesson 8
Art Master of the Week: Seurat
Site of the Week: Seurat This site was picked for the wonderful Seurat gallery that opens up to you! Enjoy!
Other Sites to Check Out: George Seurat
Georges Seurat and His Artwork
CGFA-Ernest Laurent: Portrait of Georges Seurat
Word of the Week: pointillism definition taken from Websters dictionary is "n. the method of painting of certain French impressionists, in which a white ground is systematically covered with tiny points of pure color that blend together when seen from a distance" Check out the site: Pointillism Materials for a definition and pictures
Art Project: I SEE SPOTS! (or do I?) Materials needed: large sheet of white paper, tempera paints (you could use oils), pencil, Find a picture of landscape, set in your back yard, or look out your window and pick a spot you would like to try to paint. You can either use the eraser of a pencil, a q-tip, or fine point brush to make your dots. A homeschooling mom shared a wonderful idea with me: for younger children use the "bingo markers" that are now out in the tubes. You can buy them in multiply colors. You just dot the paper and the marker applies the paint from the bottle. No messy open paint container for the little ones.
Project: Using your pencil do a brief outline sketch on your paper and write in a color that the space should be painted. Younger children can just put one dot of that color in the space if they cannot read or write yet. Once the background is ready then let the dots begin! Remember you want to fill in ALL the white space on your paper. Look at your green grass. Is it all the same color green? no, of course not! What color dots can you place in with the green to lighten or darken up parts of the yard? How about yellow/white for making sunlight on the grass in a few areas. You could try small amounts of black/brown dots in areas of grass under the trees or shrubs to give the effect of a shaded area. Did you look closely at Seurat's paintings? His dots were all different colors and yet to the eye you saw land, people, boats, sky, trees and more because your eyes were doing a little "optical mixing." You no longer saw the individual dots you saw the whole picture that they now represent! Give it a try and see what you can come up with. Remember, pointillism is not a blending of the paint like we did with the watercolors. It is placing the paint dots side by side in order for the colors to remain pure and give us the effect we want.
Optional Science: When I look at Seurats paintings I see a lot of summer time outdoor pictures. Why is everything so green in the summer and not in the winter? Here is a neat site that gives you a project for tracking the sun: Astronomy and Earth Science: Tracking the Sun... The following site gives a fun idea to use with preschoolers and kindergarteners: The Four Seasons...., Older students can learn about Photosynthesis by using the teaching picture at: "Photosynthesis", check out this site to see a leaf, leaf close-up, cross section and more: plant metabolism and photosnthesis topics, or just read: Photogynthesis
Optional Writing: Can you write about your favorite season? Why did you pick it? For younger children: let them tell you their favorite season, write it at the top of a piece of paper and list words that go with that season. The children can practice writing and reading the words. For example: WINTER
cold
snow
holiday:
ice
Optional History: When Georges Seurat was born on the 2nd of December 1859 Abe Lincoln would become President of the United States the following year. President Lincoln would remain president from 1861 until 1865. Here is a wonderful story for you to read on the web called: Lincoln and the Chicken Bone Case
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