Oil Pastel Klee Portrait

Paul Klee was a Swiss artist from the early 1900’s who liked to turn things into simple geometric shapes. This sample is based on his “Head of A Man” a classic example of his philosophy.

1. Make a 7" round cardboard template for the students to trace in pencil in the center of a brown or tan 9" x 12" paper. Then have them add the neck and shoulders using straight lines and angles, only.

2. To draw evenly spaced eyes that touch, I often have the students first draw three evenly spaced dots that they connect with curves. Circles are added inside. Using a ruler, show the students how to draw about 5 intersecting lines across the face that “jump” over the eyes. The body may have 2 or 3 lines added also. The mouth is just a simple rectangle with a horizontal line through it.
3. When the drawing is complete, all the pencil lines are traced with a thick black Sharpie marker.
4. All of the closed shapes are now colored in with oil pastels. The goal is to have lots of different colors without any of the same touching each other.

CA Visual Arts Standard: Creative Expression, Kindergarten
2.6 Use geometric shapes/forms (circle, triangle, square) in a work of art.

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Paul Klee Abstract Castle

Paul Klee was one of the great colorists in the history of painting. I developed this project that imitates his abstract “Castle and Sun” painting by having students trace cardboard shapes and fill them in with colored pencils.

1. Give each student a piece of black paper, a pencil and half a dozen or so cutout square, rectangle and triangle cardboard shapes. I made lots of shapes that were all based on 1" proportions. My sample uses 2" squares, 1" x 2" rectangles (some with triangle tops) 3" x 2" rectangles, a 3" bridge, and a 2" circle.
2. Starting at the bottom, the students are to stack and trace the cardboard shapes until they have built a castle to their liking. A sun is also added somewhere in the sky. After the drawing is done, they are to trace all the pencil lines with a white colored pencil.
3. All the shapes are filled in with colored pencil. Tip: If you think this may be a “keeper” project and you have the resources, buy some good black Artagain paper which won’t face before your very eyes like the school-regulated construction paper does. There’s nothing like good materials to make good art (sometimes!)

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Paul Klee Doodle Drawing

One way to appreciate the masters is to try to copy them. A famous painting of Paul Klee’s titled “The Grooms Arrival” looks like one simple doodle drawing filled with different colors, which I thought my students would enjoy imitating.

1. I studied “The Grooms Arrival” to come up with a continuous line drawing for the ‘body’ that would pretty closely resemble the original. Using the board in my room, I had the students follow along with me as I drew my doodle example very slowly. They drew in pencil on some new paper I found – Staples® Bristol Board. (It comes in some very nice colors and is fade resistant too). The goal was to have them draw a large doodle with several crossover lines. When the ‘body’ was done, they could add arms and feet that also crossed over the body in some fashion. A hat, eyes and mouth were added.
2. With the drawing complete, the lines were traced with a fat black marker. Staples came through again with their own fat chisel-tip permanent markers that were much less expensive than Sharpies.
3. All of the closed shapes were colored in with colored pencils. My students used my Dick Blick pencils, which work well on colored paper. Construction Crayons would be good too, I’m sure.

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Paul Klee Oil Pastel Landscape

I love the way oil pastels look on a sheet of acetate, backed with a nice black piece of construction paper.

1. Create or buy grid paper and show students how to draw a simplified city skyline with lots of squares, rectangles and triangles.
2. Have the students tape a piece of acetate to the front of their grid drawing and show them how to trace their drawing to the acetate with a black Sharpie marker.
3. The students are to color in the building shapes with oil pastels on the back side of acetate.
4. Lastly, the acetate drawing is placed in front of a piece of black paper to be displayed and enjoyed!

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Paul Klee Mural

Paul Klee was a Swiss artist (1879–1940) who experimented and eventually mastered color theory. This mural of his famous “Castle and Sun” painting may be colored to match the original as shown here, or just filled in with your student’s favorite colors.

My mural has 24 pages to color and measures 43" x 40" when complete.You can purchase my pdf file with instructions for just $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button below to make your payment and receive download instructions.

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Paul Klee Portrait

Paul Klee was a Swiss artist from the early 1900's who liked to turn things he saw into simple geometric shapes. His “Head of A Man” is a classic example of his philosophy.

1. In the center of a 9" x 12" sheet of paper, have the students draw a 6" circle, using a cardboard template. Below that the neck and shoulders can be drawn, but only using straight lines and angles.
2. The face may be drawn in pencil, but again only using very simple lines. Trace all with a dark crayon, pressing firmly.
3. Cut up various sheets of tissue paper, in about 3" squares. With a cup of water and a paint brush, the students are to dampen the white paper, and place up pieces of tissue on top in a grid-like format. Once the paper is covered, the tissue may be picked up and thrown away. The student will find that the tissue color has bled to the paper in irregular shapes. It is wise to test tissue paper with water first as some bleed more than others.

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