How to Make Pictures With Dots & Patterns

Dots and colors blend to guide the artist in their dotted composition.

The art of creating patterns with dots is called pointillism. Georges Seurat painted his pointillism masterpiece, "Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte" ("A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte)" during 1884-1886. He dotted for two years to complete this piece. In this art form, colors are intermingled optically from the viewer's perspective. Dotted pictures can be created in any medium. Watercolors will bleed into each other for interesting effects. Oils, acrylics and pastels are more stable and stay where placed. Experiment with all methods of dotting to see what approach you prefer.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paint brush
• Toothpicks
• Cotton swabs
• Paints

Instructions

1. Sketch in pencil or start painting light lines directly to delineate areas of your composition.

2. Use a paint brush tip or other object to create dots. A toothpick works well for small endeavors; apply paint with a cotton swab for larger pieces. Dots can be whatever size you feel is appropriate for your surface area and subject.

3. Lay down light colored dots to establish any patterns in your composition. These may be realistic outlines or more graphic areas.

4. Premix hues you wish to use or apply primary colors and allow them to blend in the viewer's eye.

5. Lay darker tones down to fill an area, then place lighter tones of the same color over top of the initial ones.

6. Create highlights by adding very light colored dots. One dot can have an effect and form an accent.

Tips & Warnings

• Dotted art may also be created without any plan; simply start placing dots on the surface and see what develops.

References

• Incredible@rt Department: Pastel Pointillism
• The Artwork of Jim Pescott: Technique
• Color Vision & Art: Pointillism: Seurat's Grande Jatte and Circus

Resources

• Read this Article in UK English