Paul Klee’s surreal drawing rules

© www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2012 19320 Page 1 of 3

Unbroken line

Create a picture without lifting your pen or pencil from the page.

Paul Klee used this technique to draw fascinating faces and city skylines. 

   

 

Obstacle race

Draw some obstacles on an empty page. They could be shapes, symbols or splodges.

Draw horizontal lines across the page, avoiding the obstacles you have drawn. Do not let any lines touch.

Experiment with the colour of your lines and their thickness. 

 

Paul Klee’s surreal drawing rules

© www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2012 19320 Page 2 of 3

Change of direction

Draw a line that makes right-angled turns but which doesn’t end.

Continue drawing until you return to where you began.

Alter colours, thicknesses and materials as you draw your line.

Experiment by starting off with horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines. 

   

 

Curves and points

Draw a dot anywhere on a blank piece of paper. Draw radiating curved lines out from the dot.

Choose one of the lines you have drawn and place a new dot at the end of it. Create more radiating lines from this point.

o Carry on until you have filled you page.

o Again, try using different colours, thicknesses, materials etc. 

Paul Klee’s surreal drawing rules

© www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2012 19320 Page 3 of 3

Paul Klee loved drawing when he was younger, even though he was told that he wasn’t very good at it.

He learned that drawings don’t have to look realistic or accurate. He drew imaginative pictures using shape, colour and patterns. His pictures are about ideas, not things. That is why he is known as a ‘surrealist’ artist.

He created thousands of pieces of art during his life.

Paul loved using line, marks and patterns. He would sometimes just watch, fascinated, as his pen moved across the page.

Often he would come up with ‘rules’ to follow as he drew a picture.

Have a go at creating your own line‐art which follows your own rules!