Hugo Erfurth

Paul Klee

Painter

Swiss-German·b. 1879

Known for:

poetic abstraction; Twittering Machine (1922)

Education:

Munich Academy of Fine Arts (under Franz von Stuck, 1900)

Paul Klee taught at the Bauhaus from 1921 to 1931 while developing a personal pictorial language of signs, symbols, and notational marks that drew on children's drawing, music theory - he was also a trained violinist - and his travels in Tunisia, where the color and light transformed his approach to painting. He produced more than 9,000 works in his lifetime across watercolor, oil, and drawing, many of them small. His theoretical writings, collected in the Pedagogical Sketchbook and The Thinking Eye, remain central texts in art education.

Paul Klee's Gear List(4)

Watercolor Paint

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Primary medium alongside oil, gouache, and ink; famous declaration "Color and I are one" after discovering watercolor in Tunisia

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A water-soluble paint made from pigment bound with gum arabic, applied in transparent washes that allow the white of the paper to show through. Watercolors are built up in layers from light to dark, with the paper itself serving as the lightest value. Available in tubes (moist paste) and pans (dried cakes), the medium is prized for its luminosity and portability.

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Last updated March 20, 2026

Oil Paint

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Used black oil paint for his innovative oil-transfer drawing technique, pressing traced lines through coated paper

Product description

Oil paint — pigment suspended in a drying oil, typically linseed — has been the dominant painting medium since the fifteenth century. It dries slowly, allowing extended blending, and produces a rich, luminous surface. Available from dozens of manufacturers at student through professional grades.

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Gouache

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Used bands of colored gouache with ink, strips of gold foil, and metallic paint to enhance drawings

Product description

An opaque, water-based paint made from pigment, gum arabic, and an opacifying agent such as chalk or blanc fixe. Unlike watercolor, gouache dries to a flat, matte finish and can be applied light over dark. It rewets after drying, which allows reworking but requires care when layering. Gouache is a staple medium in illustration, design, and plein air painting.

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India Ink

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Mixed with watercolor in pen drawings; combined with various media on paper

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A carbon-based drawing ink made from fine soot particles (lampblack or carbon black) suspended in water with a binding agent, traditionally shellac. India ink dries to a permanent, waterproof, deep black finish and works with brushes, dip pens, and technical pens. It has been used for writing and drawing for thousands of years across Asian and Western traditions.

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