Dot painting

Compared to the Suiseki Stone tour, this Explorer activity was a piece of cake to attend. It was an easy drive north to an apartment complex- maybe a 20 minute drive or so in the morning. The class was held outside (necessitating insect spray and water) but on that day there was a lovely breeze and the class was located under an awning.

Dot painting is seen all over Indonesia as well as other parts of the world I suspect. I've used it myself though this technique I learned is so much faster. I have created "dots" using the top end of brushes for decades. Different sized brushes yield different sized dots.

We learned that a medium sized disposable plastic syringes make a very nice "dot" tool. You melt a small hole near the top of the syringe, but below where the gasket will sit when pulled to the top. The paint bottles have a rubber "lid" with a hole. You insert the syringe into the paint bottle and flip upside down in the same manner as for filling a syringe with medication. You only place about 2 cm of paint in the syringe. You flip everything right side up again and pull the plunger up to the top. It is then a gravity fed "dot" maker. The trick is to keep the air hole right side up if you hold or lay the syringe sideways. This part takes practice. The paint all over my hands was proof of that. You also need to be sure to keep the hole free of paint.

As for applying the dots, you simply move the vertically held syringe end across the item you are detailing and touch the surface. You get great dots, one right after another. If you wish to create a series of decreasing sized dots, you tilt the syringe.

Our teacher had drawn a basic outline on pre-painted black canvases. We had to select the design we wanted, we had a short class on a practice board and then we worked on our actual piece. The teacher was available for help. I chose the flower petal outline. Everyone in the class had a different design and was free to use as many colors as desired.

If you will work with many colors, you really need a lot of syringes for the project. Having to wash and dry syringes to change paint color would not help the creative process. This hangs on our bedroom wall.