Art in Homeschool with ARTistic Pursuits #review

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One of the most difficult subjects for me to teach is art.  We are just not very artistic people in our household.  That said I think it is very important to balance out our abilities with some sound learning and even just trying when it comes to Art.  That is why I was so excited to review ARTistic Pursuits.

What we received:

High School 9-12, Book 1: The Elements of Art and Composition


This book is a spiral bound soft covered book.  It contains over 90 pages of art instruction and includes two semesters of work. 

There is a schedule included in the book to complete it in 36 weeks by working 2 hours a week. This book can be used for 1 credit for Art - there is more information on the website on how to calculate that information.  

A supply list is included in the front of the book (and can be found online when ordering.) 

How we used it:

Before receiving the book I looked over the supplies needed online.  I wanted to be sure we could jump in at any moment.  We actually had ALL of the first semester's supplies on hand from a previous art project.  These were fairly inexpensive supplies I had purchased at our local craft store.  A drawing pencil set (not just your typical #2 pencils!), vinyl eraser, metal handheld sharpener and drawing pad.

I knew both of my bigger boys would want to be included in the projects of this book.  Even though my middle son is only in 7th grade he has been able to keep up.  The three of us set up camp on the kitchen table to work.  I would read to them and show them pictures and then we would all work together on the project - each doing our own individual rendition. 

It was fun to see how each of us used the techniques we learned.  For example in Unit 1 we learned about space, both active and non-active.  Then our assignment was to draw an outdoor scene and show both types of space. It was neat to see each of our interpretations. Another thing we did was modify our project a little.  For example during the second project we were supposed to do a self portrait using a mirror or picture.  Instead we all chose different pictures to use.

This is my project - I drew my Great- Grandfather

My middle son used his own baby picture

My oldest did a drawing of his little brother

Thoughts:

I really like the simplicity of this book. Once you have the supplies it is very easy to pick up the book, open the page and go.  As a person who really doesn't have a lot of knowledge of art history and terms this is exactly the type of curriculum I need to teach.  I know the kids enjoyed the projects because it was time together.  We might not be the best drawers but we put our best efforts into each assignment and had fun.  I think that is what matters the most.  I feel confident at the high school level that a student could work completely independently with this book as well.  We just enjoyed doing the work together.  The true test of any curriculum we review is will we continue to work with it in the future and all three of us agreed that we would love to continue projects.

Last year I reviewed the Preschool book, The Way We See It - you can read our review here!  *Spoiler alert* we loved that one too! 

Be sure to click on the banner below to see what the Crew members are saying about ARTistic Pursuits - we reviewed levels from preschool to high school so there is really something for everyone!