What word can strike fear in many homeschool moms hearts? Art! How in the world can I teach art when I can't even draw a stick figure?!? Many of the moms I know resort to expensive art lessons, but what can you do when you're homeschooling on a shoestring? The first year we homeschooled I bought a very expensive art curriculum that I thought would solve this problem. It taught us how to draw lines and mix colors and how to paint. I was very disappointed and so was my son! Instead of looking at other ways to teach art I just chose to ignore it since my son didn't draw often or act very interested in art. Then, my oldest daughter came along...she lives to draw, sketch, and paint! Something had to change...I didn't want to stifle her creativity and I wanted her to grow. So I did what all good homeschooling mothers do when they need help....I researched the internet for easy art ideas.
One day my daughter found me looking at a book by Monet and she grabbed her sketch book and copied the picture. An idea was born!! Each year we pick a few different artists to study, for example, Monet, Renoir, or Mary Cassatt and we check out books about their art and life. I read them a little background of the artist and then we look at some pictures. I talk about the artist technique last. Now, comes the fun part!
I have picked out the first print to copy, usually an easier one, and we talk about all the details we can see and how it is unique. Now, they get to copy it. We might use oil pastels, paint, watercolor, colored pencils, or charcoal. We hang up the original work on our wall and next to it is all their work (even the three year old!) All week long we talk about the artist and the name of their work. We study the same artist for about 4 weeks and do at least four different prints. Once our four weeks is up I put all their work and the original works into their portfolio for the year.
Here is an example of how it works. For Van Gough we read about his life and how he cut off his ear to give to a girl! We copied his works of Starry Night, A Self Portrait, and another one where he painted his room ( can't remember it's name!). During this we used paint, oil pastels, charcoal, and colored pencils. My children learned a lot about how many artists lived and how their lifestyle influenced their art.
We've also studied Georges Seraut. His technique was to paint by putting thousands of dots beside each other. If you look closely at his work you can see them. If you want to make you kids crazy copy his work first! It takes a long time to finish a painting done this way. We've also done the Sistine Chapel by laying on our backs and painting on paper taped to the bottom of chairs or tables.
I hope this gives you some fresh ideas. If you like these try the book Discovering Great Artists with Children for more great ideas!
This is what works for me, to see what else works check out wearethatfamily !
3 comments:
These are great ideas even if you don't home school.
Kids are really interested in this stuff if it's taught in the right way. You've found a way to make it fun.
Way to go! We get frustrated with trying to fit in Art projects during our regular school year because we like to spend more time than we have when we're still trying to complete other subjects. Last year we just had an art day once a week throughout the summer. We did a project very similar to what you've described, and then we got to the point of even adding in a composer from the same era and listening to his music while we worked on our paintings or drawings. The girls are already asking to repeat this plan this summer, and I'm sure we will!
We definitely want to start doing some artist studies. I am really planning to revamp the way we're doing things for next school year, so hopefully that is one area I can look at more over the summer! Thanks for the ideas!
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