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Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - Let's talk Art --- Art contest
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No, you dont have to draw anything. I promise. What you have to do is leave
a comment and answer a few questions.
I have noticed with my two oldest girls that they are both very good at
drawing. There is a difference in their art and it is very interesting to
notice. Princess is not a detail girl. She doesnt care if her lines are
straight or her coloring is exact. In fact, I would say most of the time
her art is a bit sloppy, if you look at the details. However, if you step
back and look at the big picture, she has created something very wonderful
to look at. I would describe her work as a little bit abstract.
Pixie is exactly the opposite. I have shared some of her photos so you may
be able to relate to what I am saying. She is exact. Every line and color
is perfect. She tries to make something exactly the way she sees it. When
she was very little (3 or so) I would get comments from Sunday school
teachers about her coloring ability. She has always colored in the lines.
That exactness is carrying over in her creative art.
What I am wondering is, should I use an art curriculum for the girls? Would
teaching them art skills be helpful for them both in art and in other areas
of their learning? Or would it squelch their creativity?
Studies show that students with an art education excel nearly 30 percent more in other subjects, as well as in standardized tests, when compared to those students without an arts background.
Both my mother in law and father in law have a masters degree in art. My
sister in laws skill in art led her to a masters degree in interior architecture. Encouraging my children in art now will likely shape what they do as adults. The question is, should I just allow them the freedom to draw or do I give them something formal in which to develop their skills?
I have been approached by a representative of GeeGuides, an animated,
interactive, web-based art education company . I have not heard of their curriculum before but was intrigued when I had the opportunity to
test it out. Their art curriculum, called geeART16, has 16 lesson modules
each teaching a different topic. It is interactive and interesting. The
characters are sweet. I am confident that any homeschool parent would be
pleased to have their child interacting with them.
I have been given the opportunity to host a discussion on art education and award a random participant a one year subscription to geeART16. All you have to do is answer some of the questions I asked above , give me your opinion on art education or, tell me what you use for teaching art and why. Leave your comment and post about this discussion on your blog linking back here. I will choose a random winner next Wednesday.
Susan
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - Art contest |
| Posted by |
Susan,
Your questions have really been thought provoking for me. I also have been searching for an art curriculum for my children because both enjoy coloring, drawing, painting etc. Right now I allow my children their creative freedom and take the opportunity to expose them to different mediums such as soft pastels and different textures of paper or wood objects. (Hobby Lobby's 40% off coupon has become a favorite of mine because I can get some wonderful art supplies, that I normally would not invest in, at a fraction of the cost.) Anyway, after thinking about this for a few minutes I looked up the word art in the dictionary. Art cannot simply be defined as drawing, painting, coloring, or even crafting. It is so much more. It can be something spoken....God's Creation is art and He spoke it into existence. Art is created with musical instruments. Literature is art. Dance is art. When think of all these things Psalm 149 comes to mind:
1 Praise the Lord. 2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. 3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. 4 For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. 5 Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.
6 May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, 7 to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8 to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, 9 to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints.
So, as we look around us, we see God's Art in every form. We may not always see it being used for His Kingdom purposes, but we still see it in every form. So my answer to you is that I do believe that an art curriculum would be very beneficial for your (our) children. I don't think it would squelch their creativity. I think it would enhance it. I think it would open the doors for them to see the beauty of God's Creation in more ways than we can imagine and expose them to many forms of art instead of just one.
Blessings,
Stacy
Edited by TeachingHisWays on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 12:16 AM |
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - Hi Susan! |
| Posted by heartmatters |
I have just recently heard of GeeGuides and I'm very curious about it. My girls love to draw, paint and make crafts.
I do believe that a balance of both structured and unstructured activity is best. I think there are several parts to growing as a visual artist. In no particular order: 1. They need to to explore and create in their own way, developing their own unique and God given style. 2. They need to have proper instruction at regular intervals to sharpen their technique, and learn about theory, form, etc... 3. Copying famous pieces, can broaden and enlighten their understanding of how to use different media and other valuable lessons, and 4. Be exposed to many many different works of art and artforms, 5. Be aware of God's "art" - nature, life around us.
Blessings,
Jen |
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by |
Oooooh! Great question. I will be back to see what people post. Here is what we do...I try to do one artist every 2 weeks. I get info off the Internet, check out books from the library (I like the series "Getting to Know the World's Greatests ARtists". Then, we do a project around the artist. For example, we studied Alexander Calder, then made wire sculptures using Styrofoam as the base and bend floral wire into shapes. This week we are doing Jackson Pollack and his splatter painting. We are using paper from the end of the news roll to splatter paint (outside of course). I have also used ARtistic Pursuits, but my kids aren't as interested in learning to draw as they are in just doing the art and learning about the lives of the artists. So far we've done Monet, Piet, Pollock, Calder, O'Keefe, Kadinsky, Cezanne, Dali...they like the abstract and modern artists. We also did junk art, and the name of the artist slips my mind. I saved 3 months worth of recycleables and had 2 huge boxes of "stuff". They hot glued things together to make all types of wild creations. We have also done several trips to the NC Museum of Art. Right now they have a special Monet exhibit.
Edited by eyecorn on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 1:01 AM |
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by TOSPUBLISHER |
I love your blog, just wanted to stop by and say that. And take that picture down of yourself. It should be illegal to be that pretty. Plus, it makes me look bad. al;kdjfkldajsfladsj
Love,
gena |
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by Happyhome |
I have not done any formal art education so far in our studies, but have been considering it recently. I would describe my boys much as you did your first...abstract. I vascilate between whether or not this is just their free expression, or they really don't know how to draw a tree! I'm leaning toward the latter.
Having no art training myself, I am hesitant to know where to begin. I would definitely consider using something if I felt it would help them advance in other areas of study. I can see how learning to express themselves creatively would be a benefit to learning and expression in other subjects.
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - Our Art Studies... |
| Posted by FaithfulGrace |
When I began prayerfully considering our homeschool curriculum, Art brought the most fear. I'm NOT artistic. I enjoy art, but I can't draw or paint or anything like that. I wanted my children to learn to draw, what to do? So I prayed some more.
Then I read an article in Homeschooling Today by Barry Stebbing. I appreciated his clear, simple directions and that the word of God is woven in his curriculum. My Jennifer is using God and the History of Art. I need to blog a few of her drawings. But all of that said, I may switch to Artistic Pursuits. I would also be interested in other options.
Here are my answers:
should I use an art curriculum for the girls? I believe a curriculum provides a road map on a journey that I've never navigated. I guess it depends on how comfortable you are with the subject.
Would teaching them art skills be helpful for them both in art and in other areas
of their learning? I feel it is important that they learn techniques properly.
Or would it squelch their creativity? No, just like with writing, it is important to learn the foundational principles of the subject.
Look forward to reading more about your pursuit of art.
Blessings,
Linda |
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by Aligirl |
I have been thinking about this very thing recently! My son isn't motivated to draw or color things, and most of the time he just draws stick people. My daughter on the other hand, is very meticulous. Her little animals are colored correctly, and they have quite a bit of detail . I have wanted to either put her in an art class, or buy some sort of curriculum for her, because she LOVES to do art and draw. I haven't studied the statistics of whether art classes help make all areas of learning easier or not, but I do think that it can be helpful in getting kids to pay attention to details, and learn how to appreciate the techniques. Perhaps it helps in developing a well rounded mind too.
Last year I attempted to do some art appreciation with my kids, and studied a couple of artists. Not only did they learn about different painting styles, but by learning about the artist, they were learning history. I have always thought that if any of my children have a huge desire to persue art, then I would do everything I could to encourage and give them the tools they would need to learn about it. I probably wouldn't push someone like my son, who has absolutely no desire to learn how to paint, or draw.
Ali
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - Heather of http://heather.shamusyoung.com |
| Posted by Anonymous |
I have a teacher's degree and an art minor. I sudied art formally and on my own. I still incorporate it daily into our homeschool studies because it is an important part of my life.
I would say that in general I do not recommend deliberate art education (especially how to draw (paint, whatever) books. Been there. It did more to harm than help. On the flip side I think that classical arts education is very important. My children copy great works all the time. We discuss the works, the history around them, the people that provoked the works, etc. We discuss the materials used, structure, perspective, line.
I also recommend giving them basic education in the different forms of art and giving them extra reources in those areas that they show promise. Our middle child is especially gifted in both drawing and singing. She is able to capture things that her older, and much neater, sister is unable to do. I make sure to give her extra help with line and perspective, color and technique, while I praise her sisters more simple work.
If you are talking resources, the books that helped me most (more than any art class where we weren't actually drawing--like figure drawing class) were Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and The Materials and Techniques of Painting. I would also recommend Going for a Walk with a Line, The Scribbles Institute: Young Artist Basics books, and Lenet in Monet's Garden. We also spend a lot of time reading about great artistss and copying their works. |
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Thursday, November 30, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by nsremom |
I have two daughters who are extremely artistic and I've taken a twofold approach. (since I happen to NOT be artistic, I had to really think on this one.)
My girls get art supplies several times a month. No set amount or anything, but I hardly ever say no to new markers, tablets, painting supplies, etc. I want a great deal of supplies around for when the mood hits them. Fresh stuff to keep them interested in creating.
I'm not exaggerating to say that not a single day goes by that my youngest does not at LEAST doodle something. It's insane that I have to dredge my purse for a pen even if we're to be in the car for a quick 5 minute trip. It's part of her genetic makeup to be creative.
I've used Meet The Masters and it's a good curriculum, but very simplistic in my opinion. Expensive for how little you get. BUT I liked their selection of master artists that they chose to showcase. My oldest daughter loves Van Gogh, and he was one of the first artists they touch on.
I also have enrolled my oldest daughter in a weekly art school that kids advance at their own pace. They are given assignments and slowly work up towards higher level art. (we are taking a break currently, but are excited to resume this.)
The two hours a week my 9.5 yo spends at her art class is one of her happiest times. She spends 2 hours doing something she loves, gaining knowledge and hanging out with other kids who are crazy about it too.
So, that's my book. I'm not an artist, but I agree that it touches a deep part in childrens brains, much as music does, which is a passion of my own. The program sounds fabulous. |
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Thursday, November 30, 2006 - Art Education |
| Posted by Anonymous |
| I do feel that art education is important. You are talking to an art mom. One who has studied the arts for years. This is my passion and consider myself an artist. First let me say I think that the early years should be more exploring the mediums. Testing things out. Trying new crafts and ways of applying the different supplies. We also have done the color wheel and the different kids of colors. My children have explored paintings and then been able to pick out the paintings with warm colors or what a sculpture is. At this point in our curriculm we study and artist and then work on creating something similar. Always freely though. I want them to have their own creativity as well. We have not bought anything for Art I use my own knowledge and the internet. |
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Thursday, November 30, 2006 - Art education |
| Posted by Angelheart |
That last post was me. Sorry forgot to log in.
Nikki |
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Thursday, November 30, 2006 - art |
| Posted by chickadee |
my oldest loves to draw and color and paint. my younger daughter loves to create things with her hands. they are both artistic and i have considered art classes but always talked myself out of it.
i'm afraid i'm not the best one to teach them art lessons. my older daughter, like yours, is a perfectionist. her desire to have it just so, frustrates me because i am not at all a perfectionist. if the right lessons came along at the right location i would love to have her take lessons. but as for an art curriculum, i haven't really looked into it.
i'll be eager to read the other responses. |
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Thursday, November 30, 2006 - Art |
| Posted by finallyhome |
This is my first ever blog so here goes. I think art is important for children. It allows them to express themselves is a variety of ways. My best memories in elementary school are from art and music classes.
My mom was an artist when she was young and I have a small degree of ability so I want my daughter to be exposed to different mediums. My daughter attends a monthly homeschool art class offered by the art museum here. Last month they toured the Tiffany exhibit and made Tiffany-style candle holders. What a great experience! Art allows my daughter to be successful while she struggles and gets frustrated with subjects like reading. I think every child should be able to experiment with paint, pastels, chalk and different textures. You never know what will strike their fancy.
I'm not sure that I'm ready to tackle an art curriculum at home since there are many to choose from and I have a hard time fitting in the basics. This is only my 2nd year so I'm still figuring out the best way to teach at home. |
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Thursday, November 30, 2006 - Art Skills |
| Posted by MaxwellAcademy |
I'm sure your girls are wonderful artists and will continue to be. My children also love to draw and I think they will always be also. That said, I don't see where art instruction can deter from that in any way unless it is too critical or judgemental in their final product.
I'm all for my kids learning as much as they can about the various different styles of art that is out there. That way they can expand their skills, but they will still always maintain their "style." Currently, we don't have a set curriculum but would really love to have one. If we don't win this contest, I will check into this program. It sounds interesting and I'm sure your girls can only benefit from it.
Best of luck,
Dianna |
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Saturday, December 2, 2006 - Thanks for this opportunity! |
| Posted by homeschoolhighlites |
We tried the sample lesson and my 1st grader really enjoyed it. I would answer you questions with a simple "Yes" and a "Yes"! Yes, you should give your girls freedom to draw in their own unique way and Yes, you should also give them some formal instruction! Sounds like they have "art" in their blood and as long as the curriculum you choose doesn't seem like a chore to them then by all means Go For It!
I have used several resources on line for art projects including
www.teachartathome.com (for projects) and www.amblesideonline.org. (as an art appreciation guide). We have also completed the Barry Stebbins book "How Great Thou Art".
It was fun reading through your blog today. I posted about your contest over at my blog in hopes of winning this great subscription! I am enthusiastic about art but struggle with squeezing it in which is another reason why geeArt16 appeals to me. Hope you can stop by. :oD
~Amy |
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Saturday, December 2, 2006 - <i>Untitled Comment</i> |
| Posted by |
I think an art curriculum will give them the tools to make what they imagine/visualize into reality. I don't think it will squelch their creativity, but enhance it!
My boys are just now starting to show an interest in doodling. While they have always enjoyed sloppy, goopy, splotchy painting, the fine art of drawing or even doodling has never really appealed to them. So we have started with the Draw Write Now books and Dash can draw a better pig than I can!
Definitely do the lessons, Susan. I don't think you'd regret it!
Love,
Marsha
Edited by drewsfamilytx on Saturday, December 2, 2006 at 6:05 PM |
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Monday, December 4, 2006 - We have a two-fold approach. |
| Posted by Vanderclan |
We use Lambs Book of Art for learning techniques and use of color. We also use an immersion approach with an Artist of the Month to learn of the artist themselves, their work and their styles. I would really like for my kids to walk through a gallery and recognize different artists solely by their works and not the signs.
My daughter is a very talented (imnsho) artist and I have found learning shading techniques has been helpful for her in her growth.
~Jennifer |
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Monday, December 4, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by chickadee |
| i just posted about how we do art. enjoying these comments. |
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Monday, December 4, 2006 - Ooh, ooh, I have an opinion! LOL |
| Posted by MuckFootMom |
Hi!
Chickadee sent me over. :-) Well, actually, she didn't send me, specifically, but she linked to your art discussion in your blog. So I came to read and see what's up. Turns out I have an opinion. LOL.
As a former art student (through highschool) I wanted to say I think giving your children some 'formal' art training can be great! For me, as naturally gifted (to some degree, anyway) I loved to learn new methods and theories. Some of them I liked, some I hated. Some I thought I would be good at were flops, others that I was initially disinterested in really later captured my attention. I remember my art teacher in high school explaining how to object exists in a 'reflection vacuum' but that even NONreflective things reflect some of the colors around them, and how shadows will be compliments of the lighting color and things like that. That really fascinated me. Far from stifling my creativity, learning formal techniques set me free to better use my creativity. It gave me practice which required some discipline (um, I'm still lacking in that) and it exposed me to new things to try in art, and I ended up with a love for impressionism that I hadn't had before.
So ... I don't do formal lessons with my children right now (see above quip about discipline) but I think it's a good idea. I think the only time it becomes stifling is if you require ONE style or method as the "right" way ... :-)
Kim in MI |
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