Art Club #7

Today we decided to experiment further with our techniques, and introduce our lovely students to the equally lovely pointillism. I was relatively shocked that very few had heard of this style before, but was pleasantly surprised, once more, to see that they gladly accepted the challenge.

I had brought cotton buds, the kind you use to clean your ears with, for them to be able to make dots quickly and easily. The subject matter was however far trickier, and I realised that the pointillist subjects that Seurat and Signet painted were usually landscapes or portraits drenched in colour and vitality, so maybe this drab autumn afternoon was not an exactly the perfect way to really savour the technique. 

Nonetheless, we split up into two little groups and set up a still life before one of them, with a guitar, a chair, a small mammal's skull and a plaster bust to give sufficient variety for everybody. The other group, the one where I sat, were left to their own devises, and allowed to wholly improvise. Comparing the two approaches now, I cannot say which one I prefer better, because both yielded positive results, albeit very different results. It was certainly a risk to leave one whole table to do whatever they want, as some people may lack the self-discipline or simply the inspiration to actually commit themselves to a task so lenient in its criteria. It was a risk the paid off however, perhaps because it was the older participants which weer on the second table, while the year sevens still had that guidance they needed. 

The activity was indeed long enough to occupy a good 45-50 minutes, which was a significant improvement upon previous activities which  had had difficulties filling the required time-span we had set ourselves. The atmosphere was that same warm, pleasant one I will soon forget to comment upon, so used to it will I become.