Castle and Sun Paul Klee Inspired Art Project
This project is inspired by Paul Klee’s 1928 abstract city scene. It features straight lines (except for the sun) to form triangles, rectangles and squares.
His sky is red, but I allowed my students to choose the colour of their sky as we are simply taking inspiration, not copying the work exactly.
Recommended for: Grades 3-5
Requires the use of a steady hand and ruler. Some students may also wish to measure to make more exact shapes so knowledge of measurement and confidence with a ruler is ideal.
Timeline:
60+ minutes
This will depend on how detailed your students want to make their project and how much they measure. You could also schedule this over two periods, one for the drawing, one for the painting. In that instance, perhaps 40 minutes to draw/trace and 20-30 minutes to paint.
Materials:
Card stock (we used the beige colour, but white also works). You can also use regular weight white paper if that’s what you have
Pencil
Eraser
Sharpie
Ruler
Water based paint (we use tempera pucks)
Small paint brush
Water cup
Steps:
After looking at Paul Klee’s work to get some inspiration, start by blocking out the towers of your buildings/castles. Start with big rectangular shapes using pencil. Make sure to use a ruler for this to keep lines straight.
Then, add some detail lines to the buildings. Any horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines will do. Again, use your ruler for these lines. I tell my students to make “big” sections so that the shapes are clearly visible. Too many lines will make it harder to trace and paint.
Add a sun. I traced something round to help keep the shape.
Once you are happy with your design, trace all lines with a Sharpie. I suggest using the ruler when tracing the lines to keep everything straight.
Erase any visible pencil lines.
Now it’s time to paint, I suggest a small paint brush since the sections are likely small.
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