Head of Man? No...How about Head of Cat or Head of Dog!

Kindergarten Students Explore the Art of Paul Klee

My Kindergarten students had looked at one of Paul Klee's works earlier in the year when they were doing their fish printing. This time we revisited Klee's work to talk about the difference between Realistic and Abstract art work. Students discussed how the shapes and colors used in Head of Man (above) created an abstract portrait.

After our discussion I gave students the challenge of instead of drawing a "head of man" how about they do either a "head of cat" or "head of dog". They were excited by the project. We spent a few minutes discussing what shapes could be used to create these drawings. I drew some examples as they gave shape ideas.  Then they were off drawing their own. I asked them to draw out their picture using a black crayon first and then encouraged them to apply a lot of color using the crayons. I challenged them to mix color on top of color to create interest.

Here are some in progress shots of students drawing. 

I love the creativity the students were showing!

 Here's my example -

The next art class the students used watercolors to paint over their drawings. I had most of my classes just choose one color to paint over their cat or dog. We discussed the crayon-resist technique while doing this. I asked these young students what they thought crayons were made out of. Most of the answers were way off but I did have students in two of my six Kindergarten classes tell me "wax". We talked about how the wax would "resist" or not let the water stick to it.  A quick Art+Science connection made!