Pointillism

A Test in Patience

One of the first projects I had to work on as a brand new art student was a pointillism project. What’s pointillism, you ask? My answer to you would be a rather sarcastic, “A test in patience!”

Georges Seurat – Metropolitan Museum of Art

Let me explain. Pointillism is a technique and art movement which began in 1886, developed by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. The technique involved applying paint in patterns of colored dots. Up close, it looked very amateur and the hoity-toity art community of the late 1800’s called it “Pointillism” as a means to ridicule it. But step back from these paintings and that’s when things change. The eyes start merging all those small dots together and it doesn’t look so amateur anymore.

Koh-i-noor rapidograph pen set

They used paint. For class, we used pen and ink. I was excited because I got to buy a set of fancy (at the time) artist’s pens with refillable cartridges and different size nibs. We also used marker paper, which is basically a slick, coated paper with holds up to moisture far better than your regular copy or sketchbook paper. Also, this was something new that I’d be doing. Little did I know however, how quickly pointillism would get old, especially when working with only black.

Walt Whitman, American poet

We were to find a portrait of an historical American figure and recreate it using pointillism. I chose the poet, Walt Whitman. He had an interesting, weathered face with a white, grizzly beard and mustache. I began carefully placing dots on my paper while I listened to music. I switched from smaller nibs to the larger ones and then back again depending on how dark or light I wanted that area. I managed a couple of hours before I actually turned on the TV.

Walt Whitman, detail

A gazillion dots later, I was watching TV and only half paying attention to where the dots were going. Now I wasn’t completely distracted, mind you. I did have to pay attention to dark and light areas. Smaller nib pens and more space between dots for lighter areas and larger nibs and dots much closer together for darker areas. Plus, the dot that the pen leaves behind is an actual drop of ink. On the slick marker paper we used, that tiny drop just sat there until it dried. So I had to be careful not to touch it or risk making a messy smear that would have ruined the project.

All that aside, I think it came out rather well. So much so, that it’s a piece that I’ve kept over the years and there’s not a lot that I’ve held on to from those days. It was definitely an experience. I am happy with the way it turned out. I’m not sure that I’d ever use pointillism again in my work, but if anything, it did add to the pretty impressive patience that I already had with my drawings. To date, I think I’ve only become more patient and meticulous with my work. Do I have pointillism to thank for that? In part, perhaps. If all experiences affect or add to who we are, then sure…why not?