Painting for Kids: Fingerprint Pointillism Inspired by Georges Seurat

In this painting project for kids, we’re taking finger-painting to the next level with George Seurat inspired fingerprint pointillism!

Georges Seurat was a French Post-Impressionist painter.  That means that he was part of the art movement that happened after the last Impressionist exhibition.

Post-Impressionists used vivid colors, thick paint, and real-life subject matter like the Impressionists, but these artists put more emphasis on geometric forms and sometimes unnatural or random colors.

Seurat is most well-known for his use of pointillism, the practice of applying small strokes or dots of contrasting colors to a surface so that from a distance they blend together.

Our inspiration piece for this art project is Study For ‘The Channel At Gravelines, Evening’, 1890 by Georges Seurat.

In this art project, we will use acrylic paint to explore pointillism!

I can’t think of a better way to apply small dabs of paint than to use our fingers!

Supplies needed for this project are:

• Acrylic paint – primary colors and white
• Small canvas or canvas board
• Painting knife to mix paint

The first step is to mix our piles of paint to use.  It’s ideal to mix your secondary colors (orange, green, and purple) from your primary colors.

Our secondary color recipes are:

• Red + Yellow = Orange

• Yellow + Blue = Green

• Blue + Red = Purple

It’s also a good idea to mix some white into your colors that are very dark, such as the blue.

Now it’s time to get messy!  Don’t worry… acrylic paint will easily wash off with soap and water.

If it dries a bit on your hands just rub a little and it should come right off.

For the first step of this painting, use your fingers to mix a very light blue to apply as a base color for the sky area of the canvas.

You can also apply a little bit of color to the bottom portion of the canvas as well where the ground will be.

Next, using your fingers, mix some darker blue paint and using only small dabs of paint, build a basic guideline of the four main parts of the painting.

The four main parts of this painting are:

• Sky
• Land at the horizon
• Water
• Land in the foreground

Once you have a basic guideline of the main parts of the painting, just keep mixing your paint and layering dabs of color into each area.

Use the inspiration painting as your guide for color choices, etc.

After you’ve finished with the main sections of the painting, it’s time to add a few details.

Notice the towers on the horizon and the post in the foreground.  Add these details with your fingertips just as you painted the painting.

It’s amazing what little dabs of paint can create!

Have fun and use a little artistic license when choosing your colors and applying your paint.

Our finished Fingerprint Pointillism!

Here’s a side-by-side of our fingerprint pointillism with Study For ‘The Channel At Gravelines, Evening’, 1890, by Georges Seurat.

Have fun taking your finger-painting to a whole new level!

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