Klee Castles Mixed-Media 2nd

©DEEP SPACE SPARKLE/PATTY PALMER 2014. All Rights Reserved. www.deepspacesparkle.com

DEEP SPACE

PAUL KLEECASTLE & SUN MIXED-MEDIA

http://www.deepspacesparkle.com

D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E S P A R K L E R S C L U B !2

What You’ll Need:

12” x 18” black sulphite paper

White liquid tempera paint (acrylic paint is

fine but use caution as it stains clothing)

Plastic hotel/gift card or tag board cut into

3” lengths

Styrofoam plates or trays

Plastic cup

Colored chalk pastels

Objectives:

Learn about Paul Klee and his expressive

style of painting

Identify cubism in the painting Castle and

Sun

Blend colored chalk together to achieve a

tint or shade

Whenever you introduce a new way to create art, children are eager learners.

Paul Klee’s painting Castle and Sun is composed of thin horizontal, vertical and asymmetrical lines. These combine to form squares, rectangles and triangles.

By using a straight edge dipped in paint, kids can easily recreate their own cubist painting in a fun, new way. Plus, it’s a whole lot easier than painting thin white lines with a brush.

Although I did this lesson with second and third grade students, this project is better suited for fourth through six grade.

The discipline of applying chalk to small areas is often overwhelming for seven-year olds.

However, I included an instructional tip at the end of this lesson to show how you can adapt the lesson for younger kids.


Paul Klee was born in Switzerland in 1879. As a

young child, Paul loved playing the violin and

creating art but he eventually decided to choose art

over music and go to art school.

Color was very important to Klee and each color he

placed in his painting was significant to him. He

once said, “Color has possessed me…color and I

are one.” Even though Klee used black strokes to

dominate his paintings, color remained his truest

inspiration.

When Klee was older, he visited Tunisia, a small

country in northern Africa. He saw many colors

there that were different from his native Switzerland;

golden sunlight, amber hills, orange deserts.

Paul Klee was interested in how a painting made someone feel rather than making it look realistic.

Often the figures in his paintings appear more like objects rather than people. His art is called

abstract because his subjects are not portrayed realistically.

Did you know….

• That Paul Klee could paint with both his right and left hand?

• That he was considered a very famous painter while he was alive and that the public called him

the “magical painter”?

• The Nazis forced Klee into exile and condemned his paintings?

• That Paul Klee wrote poetry?

About Paul Klee



The prep for this lesson is rather easy: just white

paint, pastels and black paper.

This is only true if you have 30 or so plastic

hotel or gift cards. I collect these types of cards

for the art room. You can ask your fellow

teachers, friends or parents to save these cards

for you. You’ll be surprised how fast you’ll

accumulate enough.

If you don’t have these cards and are anxious to

begin, cut up some tag board. This is the stiff,

relatively thin cardboard that most schools

have. You can recycle heavy box board from

grocery store items, too.

Squeeze some white tempera paint (no

water) onto a Styrofoam plate, plastic

tray, etc. Place a plastic drinking cup,

plastic cards and the black paper on the

table and begin….

THE SET-UP


The trick to this lesson is to get kids to move past the

experimentation part of this lesson into creating

actual shapes.

This is important as many kids just want to play with

the process of stamping instead of making shapes.

Although this is absolutely encouraged, I would

suggest that you place a scrap piece of black

paper on each child’s table and let them practice

first. Not too long or they will tire of the bigger

project at hand.

I didn’t do this but my second graders really could have

benefitted form this practice.

“DRAWING” THE CASTLE


PLASTIC CARD PAINTING

The older the children, the more accurate the lines of the castle will be.

To help younger children, photocopy the image of Paul Klee’s Castle and Sun painting or use a larger poster of you have one, and ask children to identify the colors and the shapes they see. Once they deconstruct the overall image, it’s a bit easier to translate the task of creating squares and rectangles.

I find it helpful to “draw” one line across the very bottom of the paper together. This is the only line that we do as a group.

From there, children can create their first tower on either side of the paper. By looking at Klee’s painting, children will notice that there are big squares and little squares. This is hard to create using one size card, but you can tell them to use both ends of the card.

To create the sun, dip the rim of the cup into the paint and place on the paper. If the children do this after they create their first two towers, this ensures that there is enough room for the sun.

The younger the children, the more likely it is that you will see many projects like the picture on the left. To help avoid this, try practicing first and then, if possible, sit down with this child and show how to make a simple square.


After the paint has dried, it’s time to add the color.

You can use any type of chalk pastel. If you have children who do not like the feel of chalk pastel, you can use oil pastel but the overall effect won’t be as vibrant. Oil pastel just doesn’t have the opacity to cover the black paper as well.

The fastest way to color in a picture with over a hundred shapes is to select one color first. With this one color, color is as many shapes as you wish. Then select a second color and do the same.

Coloring on black paper allows the chalk pastels to be enhanced. I like using WHITE chalk as a blending color. It really adds a lot of creaminess to a color.

Encourage the kids to look at the colorwheel and mix “friendly” colors together (beside each other on the colorwheel).

COLORING WITH CHALK


PASTEL OPTION

I was introduced to Faber-Castell’s Gel sticks this year. They are a great tool for classrooms. They color like oil pastel but blend like chalk. This makes the gel sticks adaptable to many lessons, including this one. The best part is that every kid will love them especially those with tactile or sensitivity issues. They come in a plastic container, like lip balm, which makes it very user friendly.

Again, the younger the child, the more likely you will see this type of effort with the chalk. One solution for working with six-seven year olds is to reduce the paper size to 12” x 6”. This tall and skinny paper will encourage kids to create bigger and taller shapes with their plastic card. You can also create the tower together using a step-by-step approach. Then when it’s time to color, the shapes will be bigger and fewer in number.

What to watch out for…


Klee’s Castle & SunSECOND & THIRD GRADE


CREATING Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work — Brainstorm multiple approaches to

art and design—use of various materials to make art

Organize and develop artistic ideas and work — Explore materials to explore personal

interests in art-making—demonstrate safe use/cleaning—repurpose objects into something

new

Refine and complete artistic work—discuss/reflect with peers about choices when creating

artwork

Presenting/producing Analyze, interpret and select artistic work for presentation— categorize artwork based on

a theme or concept for an exhibition

Develop and refine artistic work for presentation — distinguish between different

materials or artistic techniques for preparing artwork for presentation

Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work — analyze how art exhibited

inside and outside school contributes to communities

Responding Perceive and analyze artistic work- describe aesthetic characteristics of the natural world—

categorize images based on expression Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work — interpret art by identifying the mood

suggested and describing relevant subject matter and identifying the characteristics of

form

Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work— use learned art vocabulary to express preferences

about artwork

Connecting Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art- create works of

art about events in home, school or community life Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding —create works of art about events in home, school or community life

NATIONAL CORE ARTS STANDARDS-Second grade

X

X

X

X

X

X

X


CCSS.Math.Content.2.G.A.1 Recognize and draw shapes having specified attributes, such as a given number of angles or a given

number of equal faces.1 Identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, and cubes.

As students use the straight edges to create their shapes for the castles, you can point out that they

share certain attributes. Squares and rectangles both have 4 sides. Have them recognize these

shapes as quadrilaterals and triangles as having 3 sides to build on their math vocabulary and see

how it can be used to create art.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.2 Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or

through other media.

After reading The Cat and the Bird: A Children's Book Inspired by Paul Klee by Geraldine Elschner

to introduce the style of Klee, ask students questions about the artwork, the story, etc. to formally

assess their understanding of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an

opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to

connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.

Students address this standard when completing the artist statement worksheet (located in

Resources). They are writing their opinion about the artwork they made based on how it was

created and how they were inspired.

• Today I will learn about LINE and SHAPE, so that I CAN create a Cubist style painting inspired by artist Paul Klee.

• Today I will learn about TINTS and SHADES, so that I CAN blend chalk pastels to achieve a better variety of colors.

• Today I will learn about MIXED-MEDIA ART, so that I CAN use various recycled materials, paint, and chalk together to create a composition.

COMMON CORE STANDARDS FOR Klee’s castle

I can statements For Klee’s Castle


ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST

Student Name:

Can the student tell me about Paul Klee?

Did the student use geometric shapes to

create their Klee castle?

Did the student create large enough shapes

that they were able to color individually with

chalk pastel?

Main Ideas from:

KLEE’S CASTLES MIXED-MEDIA

Documents

Klee Castles Mixed-Media 2nd