Dots by Chuck Close

Chuck Close, Artist Close was born in Monroe, Washington in 1940. His art focuses on portraits of himself and his family and friends, often produced at a very large scale Close typically begins with a photograph of a face, creating a painting or print through a grid-based reconstruction of the image that he accomplishes by hand His paintings are even more impressive, given that Close had to relearn how to use his hands following a 1988 spinal infection that left him a quadriplegic. Close suffers from Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, in which he is unable to recognize faces. Due to this disorder, Close was first driven to paint portraiture.

Pointillism Art technique that uses small dots of pure color close together that create a larger image “Visual Color Blending” = where several colors seem to blend together to make a larger image Concentric - objects share the same center, axis or origin with one inside the other Concentric Circles – Circles that overlap and share the same center

Student Work

Your Assignment Bring in a picture (minimum of 4x6” print) of a person- picture can be photo or printed Grid the picture with ½ inch squares Grid the art with 1 inch squares Redraw the image on the art paper Color each grid square with concentric circles, minimum of 3 colors in each square. Try to match skin tones and values and shadows. Use Colored Pencils