4th Grade Paul Klee Analogous Abstracts

This is a new lesson that I wrote this year. My kids absolutely love to use the mixing trays, so I thought coming up with a lesson in which they would need to rely on them would be quite a bit of fun. 

This lesson came right after the totem pole project. That project required quite a bit of mental problem solving in addition to small detail artwork. I wanted to give my students a bit of a change and this painting project worked quite well for that. 

We studied the abstract geometric work of painter Paul Klee as well as a little color theory. Each student then designed a composition inspired by Klee. The work was then painted with analogous colors. Students chose four colors that are in a row on the color wheel. Each student also had to include at least one tint and one shade in his or her work. I was pretty pleased with the variety of work my students produced and the overall quality of the painting. What really helped was the new size 2 bright brushes I purchased this year for detail work.