Pointillism Today: How Paintings Are Made from Thousands of Circles
The question I hear most often in front of my paintings is: “Is this pointillism?” The answer takes more than one word, because my technique grows out of the same fascination as pointillism, but leads somewhere else. Let's start at the beginning.
What is pointillism?
Pointillism (from the French point, meaning dot) is a painting technique in which the image is built from small dots of pure colour placed side by side, instead of mixing paints on the palette. The colours only blend in the eye of the viewer. The technique was developed in France in the 1880s by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, and its most famous example is Seurat's “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” (1884–1886). Pointillism was part of a broader movement known as Neo-Impressionism.
For the painters of that time it was an almost scientific undertaking. They studied how light and colour act on the human eye, and wanted a painting to glow more brightly than an ordinary mixture of paints.
How optical colour mixing works
Pointillism rested on the theory of the French chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul, who published a book on the law of simultaneous colour contrast in 1839. He noticed that colours placed side by side influence each other: blue next to yellow looks slightly purple, and yellow next to blue looks slightly orange.
Painters drew the conclusion that instead of mixing paints on the palette, they could place small touches of pure colour next to each other and let the eye blend them into a single shade. Colours mixed in the eye move towards white, so such a painting was meant to be brighter and more luminous than one painted with mixed pigments.
Pointillism and Impressionism
The Impressionists, such as Monet, painted quickly and outdoors, with visible brushstrokes, to capture the fleeting impression of light. Seurat and his followers worked differently: slowly, methodically and according to colour theory, building a painting from tiny touches of pure colour.
“A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” was shown in 1886 at the eighth and last Impressionist exhibition, and the critic Félix Fénéon named the movement Neo-Impressionism. Paul Signac himself rejected the word “pointillism” and preferred to speak of divisionism.
Paintings made of dots and paintings made of circles
"Rainy Afternoon". Every circle is a separate, captured moment.
My paintings are also made of thousands of small elements, but they are not dots. They are circles. And I am not trying to make the colours blend in the eye from a distance.
I paint every circle separately, by hand, and each one has its own meaning for me. A circle is a form with no beginning and no end, one that holds infinity. Each one captures a single moment forever: a movement of the hand, a breath, the time of day it was made. Thousands of such moments add up to a figure, an animal, a landscape. Big things are built from small ones, just like in life.
That is why these paintings are worth seeing up close. From a distance you see the whole scene; up close you see every circle on its own, with its colour and the trace of the brush.
Where the circles came from
With the painting "Tree", also available as a limited collector's print.
I have always painted. Painting was my first field of study: I studied at the European Academy of Arts in Warsaw and at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. My mother recently reminded me that circles appeared in my drawings already when I was a child. It is simply the way I see: when I look at the world, I translate it into circles, a little like pixels. After years of working in television, I returned to painting in 2018, and this form became my language.
How a painting made of thousands of circles is created
- Idea and sketch. First comes the subject: a figure, animals, a scene. A light outline of the composition appears on the canvas.
- Colour. Before I place the first circle, I know what the palette of the whole painting will be. I paint with acrylics, with a brush, on linen canvas.
- Circle by circle. Every circle is painted separately. The painting grows slowly, fragment by fragment. A 100 × 100 cm painting means around 5,000 circles and roughly four weeks of work.
- A final look. I look at the painting from a distance and up close, sign it and prepare a certificate of authenticity.
"Woman by the River", acrylic on linen canvas.
Where to see paintings made of circles
All available works are in the original paintings collection. Every original is one of a kind and I never repeat it. Selected works are also available as limited, hand-signed and numbered collector's prints.
The paintings are best seen in person, because only then can you see every circle. You are welcome to visit my gallery in Żoliborz, Warsaw, by appointment. To see how a painting would look in your own interior, you can use the free visualisation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between pointillism and divisionism?
Divisionism is the broader idea of separating colours into individual strokes or patches that blend in the viewer's eye. Pointillism is its best-known form, in which those separate touches of colour are small dots.
Who created pointillism?
Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, French Neo-Impressionist painters, in the 1880s.
How is pointillism different from Impressionism?
The Impressionists painted quickly, with visible brushstrokes, to capture a fleeting moment and the light. The pointillists worked slowly and according to colour theory, building a painting from tiny touches of pure colour.
What is optical colour mixing?
Instead of mixing paints on the palette, small touches of pure colours are placed side by side. From a certain distance the eye blends them into a single shade that looks more luminous than a colour mixed from paints.
Is the circle technique pointillism?
It is related to it, because the painting is also built from thousands of small elements of colour. It differs in form (circles instead of dots) and in intention. Pointillism was about the optical mixing of colours; in my paintings every circle is a separate, captured moment.
How many circles are in one painting?
A 100 × 100 cm painting is made of around 5,000 hand-painted circles. It takes roughly four weeks of work.
Before I show it to the world, I show it to you. New paintings go first to the Collector's Club.
With all my colours,
Kasia