2 Vibrant Peter Max Art Lessons Elementary Student Tested.

April 29, 2025 by Jenn

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Check out 2 variations of upper elementary Peter Max Art Lessons!

Peter Max is a German-American Artist who is known for his psychedelic imagery of peace and love that is influenced by the 1960’s. His art is instantly recognizable with its bursts of vivid colors along with surreal combinations of figures, faces, rainbows and much more.

Imagery you may find in a Peter Max Painting

Peace Signs
Doves
Stars
Planets
The Sun
Figures
Profiles(side of a face)
Flowers
Trees/natural elements

To learn even more about the artist and to view more of his art, check out his website.

2 examples of Peter Max art lessons for upper elementary students:

Peaceful Profile Colored Pencil Lesson: In this lesson we looked at Peter Max Paintings that had a profile as the focal point. By profile, I mean a side view of a face. The students were given the challenge to represent the theme of “making the world a better place” within their artwork. We discussed how artists can use their art to spread positive messages to others.

After brainstorming, choosing a theme, and coming up with relevant symbols, the students watched me demonstrate how to draw a side view of a face. The students were given time to practice drawing a profile that resembled their own. (looking at silhouettes of faces is helpful).

Along with their face, the students were also asked to include the following in their final artwork:

symbols of various sizes
bright colors
bold outlines
color gradients and/or color blends

The students lightly sketched out their profile on the final drawing paper. The idea was for the profile to be the focal point and the largest part of their design. Their chosen symbols to represent their theme were to be incorporated into the face, or background or both. The final drawing was outlined in ultra fine sharpie and then colored in neatly. Color blends and gradients were encouraged as they were commonly used in Peter Max’s paintings.

*My students used Prismacolor colored pencils for this. I prefer them for their vibrancy and ease of blending.

Peter Max Art Lessons: Peace Sign Design

This lesson is similar with its use of symbols, but with the inclusion of a large peace sign as its focal point. The students were asked to think about how they could convey the theme of peace or what brings them peace in their artwork. As always, the students took some time to brainstorm and sketch out ideas.

For their larger art piece, I gave out large circle tracers to help with the overall shape. The students were tasked with drawing the interior of the peace sign. Some kids altered the type of lines used within the peace sign or incorporated other imagery in place of the lines themselves. Another option would be to provide the entire peace sign as a tracer.

Like the works of Peter Max, the students incorporated a gradient of two or more colors into the background. I demonstrated how to fade from one color to another with neon tempera cakes. Before painting their blend of colors within their own work, they practiced on a scrap of paper.

Along with the large peace sign, the students were also asked to incorporate:

-Peace related symbols of their choice/design
-An outline with an ultra-fine sharpie
-A bright color scheme
-a gradation of colors in the background.

We worked large scale for these paintings. Most students had a 24″x 24″ paper to work on unless they needed more of a custom size. The designs were drawn out, outlined with an ultra fine sharpie and then painted in.

*We used neon tempera paints for the final artwork on drawing paper