Neo-Pointilism: Mona Lisa

Image Description

This picture shows the Mona-Lisa as an eye test, consisting of many round points. The closer you stand in front of it, the more you see the dots - probably because of the dominant light-dark contrast. However, the further away you get, the more the contours of the dots blur. As a result, the colors blend in the eye, creating the image impression that shows the Mona-Lisa.

The way I paint the images of the new series, I call neo-pointilism. I had initially thought of Post-Impressionism - but the calculated effect of the paintings reminds me more of George Seurat's approach. This artist, who managed to create great paintings without a sensational biography, is very close to my heart. My approach is basically similarly calculating. I observe every part of the original very carefully and then mix the appropriate color value with the watercolors. Then I decide how big the dot needs to be and paint it into the picture at the exact spot where it belongs.

For me, this approach is very exciting, because I have a visual distance of about 40 cm when I work. So it dominates when painting the points. Only when I have finished the picture and look at it from a greater distance (with me around 6-7 meters), the picture begins to work.

Pictures for myopic people (?)

A few days ago I made another exciting discovery: when I stand about a meter in front of the image (and see the dots), everything changes when I take off my glasses. I am nearsighted with a strength of about 3.5 diopters. Without glasses, the blurring effect described above sets in directly. Surprisingly, the color circles widen so that the white spaces in between are hardly perceptible. Therefore, I see the images better from a distance of about one meter without the glasses. My visual memory begins to fill in unclear areas from memory. This is especially true for the areas that I do not focus on. So basically, the whole picture.

It almost seems like I accidentally invented pictures for myopic people :-)

Neo-Pointilism: Mona Lisa | Watercolor by Martin Missfeldt