Pointillism

You may have noticed that many of my paintings composed of dots.  I affectionately refer to them as my "dot paintings", but there is an official name for the style: pointillism.

The style emerged in the 1800s, and, evidently, was not well received at the time.  Georges Seurat is one of the most well known artists to use the style.  If you have a chance, look up his most famous painting: "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte".  It took him two years to complete.

None of my pointillist paintings have taken quite that long, but from my experience with the style thus far, I can say that it can be tedious.  After all, I am filling my canvases with thousands of dots.  My record for completing an ACEO-sized painting?  Seven hours.  

I try to limit the number of colors I use in a painting, so I have to think carefully about where I'm going to put my dots, particularly if I'm trying to create a color that isn't in my palette.  For example, I have not used black in any of my pointillist paintings, so if my subject has black in it, like the condor and vireo paintings, I have to come up with something that looks black, without using black paint. 

What would compel a person to paint in this style?  Well, I guess I just liked Seurat's style.  I also liked the challenge of painting with gazillions of dots, and the challenge of getting my limited colors to work together.  I had to try it, and I still am doing it.

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