ARTistic Pursuits ~ Review

 

We love Art around here, creating Art is just a way of life.  It was something I did with each of the kids from a young age.  And even now as my oldest is almost 21 he can still be found drawing, painting and doodling.  Several weeks ago I was given the opportunity to Review an Art Curriculum, High School 9-12, Book 1: The Elements of Art and Composition from ARTistic Pursuits.

Now even though we love Art, that doesn't mean it's an easy subject to teach and to do it thoroughly.  I create what I feel and never had any formal training.  But, for my Kiddos I would like for them to learn the basics and beyond.  I want them to learn about art styles and Artists from different eras.  I can do all this with ARTistic Pursuits and not have to spend tons of time gathering supplies, gathering information and organizing a plan.  Instead it's all in this Spiral bound book and is as easy as flipping to the next page.


We received the High School 9-12, Book 1: The Elements of Art and Composition.  This book is Non-consumable, has 92 pages and is the 3rd edition.  I love curriculum written in a conversational way and this book was no exception.  Very nicely written and easy for Highschoolers to work through it independently.  This book is a full year course and includes 68 lessons with several projects.  These projects will include using creativity, techniques learned, art History and appreciation.  We worked together for about an hour and a half once a week and then Mahala worked independently 3 other days a week.  

In this book your Kiddo will learn 3 secrets of Great Artists.  To Observe the world around you and to really see it.  They will learn what to look for when they are looking.  And how to focus on one single element of art at a time while drawing and blocking out everything else.

Each of the units begin with a subject.  Unit 1 is Space and it will always show a piece of art with detailed explanations regarding the topic.   Next you will find a portion called Challenge your Vision.  It's a creative exercise to challenge your student to push through preconceived ideas and to discover something new instead.  The challenge for this unit was to draw a scene outdoors and to look for active and non-active spaces.  They were told to make each type of space obvious.  Here is Mahala's pictures, we were in the car and didn't have her drawing pad.  I loved them so I decided to post them both. 

 





Lesson 2 asks you to look at the specific topic in Art, in this case that would be Space.  In the 2nd lesson of each unit you will see an image of a painting or drawing that shows the concept being taught.  The lesson points our hidden details and History behind the piece of Art.  In this Unit we were given a painting from a Medieval Artist named Francesco della Rovere.  The painting was of a Young Knight in a Landscape.  The use of Space in this painting was whimsical.  In the corners on the ground you found little frogs and tiny creatures.  In the middle you could see a peacock and animals drinking by the water.  And in the top portion there were birds and tree branches all filling up space.  Even though the main focus of the painting is the young Knight, there is so much more going on.

Art History follows after Art Appreciation.  And here your Kiddo will learn many different facts and about people that they have and have not ever heard of before.  I love this aspect of the program.  Art History is very rich, especially when you learn about the Art History from other cultures.  Lesson 3 was Mahala's Favorite, Techniques.  This is where they encourage you to get outdoors, go somewhere and explore.  Try new things, shake it up a little.  And then finally each Unit has an Application section in lesson 4.  This is where you use what you have learned and know.  You are prompted to doing a project.  They give you tips on how to complete and also share a Student drawing in the Gallery area, which I think is pretty cool. 

So, what did I think?  I Love ARTistic Pursuits.  I think it gives you Everything you need to successfully teach your children Art with full confidence.  What more can you ask for?  Art is something that everyone can do and benefit from.  I strongly urge you to check them out online and on Facebook to connect with them and learn more.