Shaping Up With Picasso

crayola supplies

Crayola® Oil Pastels
Washable Watercolors
Watercolor Brushes with Plastic Handle
Giant Marker and Watercolor Pad

household supplies

recycled newspaper
paper towels
container(s) of water

Why?

Look at the world like Pablo Picasso did, analyzing geometric patterns. Create a Cubist still life, focusing on the shapes you see with your Picasso viewpoint.

Steps

1. Look at one of Picasso's early Cubist works, such as Pot, Glass and Book, or "Green Pan and Black Bottle." Find geometric shapes in the paintings.
2. Arrange a simple still life on a table with objects that interest the age group. Stuffed animals, building blocks, and toy cars might interest young children.
3. Find geometric shapes in the still life. Describe them to each other.
4. Draw these geometric shapes, using a different color Crayola® Oil Pastel for each shape. Complex forms, such as a teddy bear, will have several geometric shapes, each in a different color of pastel.
5. Cover your work area with newspaper. Wet one completed object with a Crayola Paint Brush and clear water. Then fill a brush with one color of Crayola Washable Watercolors and paint the wet surface. The wash will unify the individual geometric shapes into a recognizable whole.
6. Fill each of the remaining objects with a wash of watercolor.

adaptations

With young children, begin with a stack of unit blocks in a shape that resembles a favorite truck or doll, for example. Draw the blocks. Then place the toy next to the blocks, and compare the two still-life arrangements.

Older students can analyze facial features of a posed classmate for geometric shapes. Begin with several sketches. Finish with oil pastels and watercolor.

Younger students, or those with visual impairments, could hold an object such as a bottle or a toy. Students describe forms they feel that are circular, square, or triangular. Sculpt a 3-D, geometric version of the object using Crayola Model Magic.

benefits

Children find, recognize, and describe geometric shapes in the artwork of Pablo Picasso, and understand the basic concepts of Cubism.

Students analyze geometric patterns in real-life forms, and develop visual descriptions of them.

Children create shapes seen in a still life, and use a watercolor wash technique to unify their drawings.

grades

Pre-K and Kindergarten
Grades 1 to 3
Grades 4 to 6
Grades 7 to 12
Special Needs

subjects

Math
Visual Arts

time

30 to 60 minutes
Multiple Sessions

curriculum standards links

US: Research U.S. Standards
UK: Research UK Standards
Canada: Research Canada Standards