Pointillism is a painting technique where many small dots of color are applied in patterns to create an overall image. Traditionally, pointillism is created using oil points due to the thick viscosity of oil paint that does not run or bleed.

As with all creative processes, techniques can be adapted to suit your own requirements, and therefore acrylic, watercolors, and inks are just as suitable for creating pointillism style artworks.

Pointillism is based on the premise that pure colors are used individually and not used to create blended colors. It is the technique of creating tiny dots that contributes to the illusion of blended color.

To create dots of paint, you can use tools with a rounded dull end. The end of a paintbrush is a good tool to use for pointillism.  Using paint pens and other general ink pens can also create clean crisp dotted points for your artwork.

Notable artists include: Georges Seurat and Paul Signac

Suggested ideas to create in your VAD include:

• Create the illusion of a green landscape by using other colors in addition to green. Use primary colors of blue and yellow to create the illusion of green. Add in white and black to add highlights and shadows. Leave areas unexposed to create additional lights and shades to your overall image.
• Use a variety of small and large dots in your artwork to create different patterns.
• Experiment with the space left between each dot to determine if tiny tight dots or loose large dots make a difference to the overall illusion of your image.
• Experiment with art materials to create dots. Create using paint and then create a similar piece using pens and pencils for more control over the dots.
• Use different art materials to create a mix of large and small dots so your artwork contains varying marks.

The below work was created using the technique of pointillism. The character Edward Scissorhands was recreated using pointillism. 

Only dots were used to create the image which shows how effective pointillism can be in defining an overall image that we can identify.