Relationship
Every individual thing affects and is affected by other things.
5 December 2019
In Grade 7, we looked at the techniques of pointillist and divisionist painting, which rely on the optical relationships between small coloured dots or dashes. We first learned fundamentals of colour theory and colour schemes, as well as how to mix secondary and tertiary colours and create tints and shades. And we applied this in collaborative paintings, where we looked at the relationship between coloured dashes in a series of Paul Signac paintings: ‘Golfe Juan’ (1896), ‘Le Port au soleil couchant, Opus 236 (Saint-Tropez)’ (1892), and ‘Place des Lices’ (1893).
Paul Signac’s Golfe Juan (1896)
Paul Signac’s Le Port au soleil couchant, Opus 236 (Saint-Tropez) (1892)
Paul Signac’s Place des Lices (1893)
Dicing up these images allowed us to see into the image and recreate the compositions of coloured patches that from afar our eyes blend for us. Students worked with their ‘neighbours’ in the piece to connect their lines and shapes as they scaled up from their visual reference. They also worked together to use the same or similar colours from other parts of overall painting. As we learned in completing one piece in a group project, there are many factors that can affect the cohesiveness (and success!) of the end-product.