Studying Picasso gives children an introduction to cubism and offers fun with abstract drawing and painting.
Tate Kids has an introduction to the works of Pablo Picasso, taking a look at three different images.
Ducksters offers a short biography, assigning his art works to the different periods: Rose period 1904 – 1906, Cubism 1907 – 1921, and so on. It gives some interesting facts too – such as he produced over 1,800 paintings and 1,200 sculptures.
BBC Bitesize offer a KS1 video with “the artist” introducing his work. I love this video and would use it with any age! It is introducing the cubist portrait and shares a great idea for a classroom activity.
CoolKidFacts has a great introduction to Picasso the person.
ArtsyCraftsyMom has ten projects for children based on Picasso’s work.
She says: “Picasso’s art closely follows his personal experiences and also reflects his views on society and politics. Even his choice of colors play an important role, with blues and greens reflecting a depressive state and pinks and oranges showing the return of love and happiness in his life.”
The projects shared on the ArtsyCraftsyMom site are:
- Picasso Faces Tree Ornaments – a great activity on the lead up to Christmas!
- Picasso’s Bouquet of Peace
- Cardboard Guitar – Copying an early idea from Picasso where he made a guitar sculpture out of cardboard.
- Blue Period Art from Picasso’s depressed period can be used to help children understand emotions can affect the way one views things.
- Three Musicians Collage – a collage activity
- Picasso’s Trousers
- Picasso Coloring Page Printable – There are several of the artist’s drawings here and one featuring Pablo Picasso’s self-portrait!
- Self Portrait Collage
- Rooster Chalk Art an art project using oil pastels.
- Rose Period Hearts – a woven placemat heart in his pink period colour scheme.
Colours relating to emotions would make a great discussion when studying Picasso’s art and life leading to an interesting comparison with other artists of the time such as Modigliani, who used “Warm Colours” in his paintings of faces.
Here is a tutorial on drawing a face in the style of Modigliani (image below), which could be used as a comparison in styles.
