Life In The Arts
Pointilism
with Laurie Myer
Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 10:30 - 11:30 AM
LONGTIMERS PRODUCTIONS AND THE MONTEREY COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION PRESENT
PROGRAM GUEST
Laurie Myers will show teachers how to help children learn to turn their creative ideas into something real. A poem, a play, a piece of art. "It always surprises me how good they are at doing this if they are free to follow on the journey you take them...when they are not worried about what someone else thinks...when you keep reassuring them that the joy of art is in the process."
STUDENT PROJECT
MATERIALS LIST
8 1/2 by 11 copy paper
Pencil Eraser
Colored markers
HISTORY
GEORGES SEURAT
Seurat was the master of dots. This technique is called pointillism. He studied color theory and used a prismatic palette of eleven colors arranged in order of the spectrum. Think of a rainbow. He used contrasting colors (colors opposite of each other on the color wheel). This enhanced the picture and made the colors even more vibrant. He was very scientific in his approach to art both as a draftsman and a colorist.
POINTILLISM (GEORGES SEURAT)
Instructions: First pencil in a tree on the left hand side with the branch moving into the center. Next, create a horizon line about one third down the page. Show how the tree is floating unless you draw in a foreground line. This line should be diagonal. The diagonal line was often used by the Impressionists.They had been fascinated by Japanese wood block prints, where the artist leads you into the picture plane with diagonal lines. Now put a small sailboat in light pencil as your focal point in the middle ground. Have the sails go over the edge of the horizon. Now the trick is the dots. The tree gets filled in with brown.Have the students make the darker areas by using more dots closer together. On the light side of the tree the dots will be farther apart and less of them. The foreground can be in yellow and blue or in yellow or green. Notice how the eye mixes the colors. Then dot in the boat with red. The sky and sea must be two different shades of blue. For the sky, sea and sails you have to "reserve the white." Have the students go around the reserved areas without outlining them. Have them be careful not to fill in the sails. Just make dots.The sea will move if they make curves and waves with the dots. When they are completely finished, and this takes quite a bit of time, have them erase the pencil lines.Voila!
Pointillism!
CAREER CORNER
School to Work Transition
The service sector offers a myriad of career opportunities for people with a variety of talents, skills and abilities.
Here are some examples. Pick one that interests you and explore it as a career possibility.
What does the person do on a daily basis?
What educational background and work experience is necessary?
Where is the work done?
What are the rewards?
You may be surprised by what you find!
Current career information can be found on the Internet as well as at your school Career Center.
You may want to interview a member of the community that is currently working in one of these professions.
Interior Decoration
Landscape Design
Fashion Design
Textile Design
Web Site Design
Problem solving, creative thinking, curiosity and enjoying playing with materials, arranging colors and forms and trying to do what hasn 't been done before -trailblazing -are qualities that lend themselves to a career in the arts.There are many career opportunities in the arts,and many artists create a career so varied and creative that their lives might qualify as a work of art in themselves.