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Little Artist: Paul Klee block painting
This is a fun little lesson to teach the kids about the art of Paul Klee. The lesson uses those little wooden blocks that many of us grew up playing with. And paint is always fun, too!
About the Artist
Paul Klee was born on December 18, 1879, in Switzerland. His parents were musicians, and he played the violin. He once thought that he would be a musician when he played in an orchestra for several years.
Klee did a lot of drawing and sketching as a boy. He eventually realized his love of art was greater than his desire to be a musician, so he left to study art in Munich and Italy. Klee taught drawing classes and provided illustrations for books. He even drew for a famous writer by the name of Voltaire!
Paul Klee's style
Paul Klee eventually moved to Paris where he studied impressionism. He learned about the works of Van Gogh and Cezanne. Klee was inspired by cubism and shapes.
Klee also took inspiration from children’s drawings and eventually combined the shapes of cubism with the simple patterns of children’s drawings. Paul Klee is known for using vibrant colors, many shapes, and childlike landscapes.
Paul Klee painted a number of cityscapes with buildings of various sizes and shapes. The paintings all contained shapes like rectangles, squares, triangles, and circles. Very similar to the building block shapes.
You will need ...
- Wooden Blocks
- Tempera Paint
- Dish to put paint in
- Brush
- Heavy Duty Paper (like cardstock or watercolor paper).
How to ...
There are two ways to do this art project. The first is to put the paint in a wide bottomed dish (like a plate) and let the kids just dip the block’s side into the paint. Then, they will place the painted side onto the paper to create the “building.”
The second option is to use a brush to paint the paint onto the block’s side. Then, they will place the painted side onto the paper to create the “building.”
Both ways work well, it just depends on your preference or what is easiest for the kids to manipulate.
Then, the kids just keep repeating the block painting until they have a city landscape of varying buildings. Klee liked to layer the buildings as well, so they can certainly cover the paper with buildings. One feature that Klee also had was most of his cityscapes included a large circular moon in the sky. They kids can create this with the cylinder block or by just painting a circle on their paper.