ARTistic Pursuits

Art can be an intimidating subject to teach when your kids start getting out of elementary school and past the easier projects, especially if it's not one of your gifts. It can also be expensive to receive art lessons outside of the home as well. While all my children enjoy art & projects, I have one child especially who has taken up a love of sketching the last few years. I had never heard of ARTistic Pursuits until we were recently asked to review them, but from what I could tell by initially perusing their website, this was going to be something Susan was really going to enjoy.

We were given Middle School 6-8 Book 1 to review. Our first impression was that we liked that the book was spiral bound as it would lay flat on the table while she had it open to read or work on sketching. I also loved that the first page listed not only the table of contents but the list of art supplies that were needed as well. We found it very easy to get the needed supplies and if you don't have an art supply store near you, ARTistic pursuits has supply kits you can purchase. Susan was excited to learn how to use some of the new art supplies she had never seen before such as the different range of pencil grades and sandpaper block.

This book has 16 units with 4 lessons in each unit. The recommend schedule for the curriculum is 2 lessons per week, each taking about an hour, making this a full year class. The middle school book 1 focuses on the element of art and composition. Each of the 4 lessons in each unit covers specific topics:
-Building a visual vocabulary
-Art appreciation and history
-Techniques
-Application

An elephant paints with leaves falling all around from the trees.  This is from unit 1 where she had to draw an elephant and focus on placement as well as where she placed the other objects.

What I loved about this book is that it isn't a "how to draw" book but really delved deep in getting the student to focus on their world around them & to dig deeper into observation while reading about other art projects and history then applying them to her own project.  This book got Susan looking past an actual object and focusing on shapes and lines and how to use those when it came to sketching.

I liked the fact that this was an all-in-one art course that had everything laid out where I didn't have to do anything except make sure she had the needed supplies and answer questions she might have had. It is also a non-consumable book so I have no doubt my other children will use this as soon as Susan puts it down long enough for them to read & use it. This curriculum would be great for any student who enjoys art and has a desire to learn more beyond the basics. 

I was lucky to snap the few pictures I did as she was often off on her own somewhere working on her sketches and lessons alone.

 ARTistic Pursuits has a full range of curriculum for preschool all the way up to high school. The cost of the Middle School 6-8 Book 1 is $47.95, a bargain for a full years worth of art lessons.