ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. REVIEW

Little Bug just loves to draw, and draw, and draw.  It was a no-brainer for me to request the opportunity to review ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray by ARTistic Pursuits, Inc.  Yes, both DVD and Blu-Ray versions are included so you can use whichever you prefer.  I remember using one of their books many years ago for my now 14-year-old.  Boy have they changed!  I love the new format with a 63 page hardcover book and both DVD and Blu-Ray video instruction.  There are several options to choose from and I chose Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary for grades K-3.  You can start with Vol 1 and then "follow history in chronological order through Volumes 2-8 . . ."  The volumes do not need to be used in order, nor do the individual lessons.
Art for Children Vol 1 contains 18 lessons in the book.  Six of the art lessons have an accompanying video lesson (marked below - total of 6 video lessons).  It is a very nice quality book with glossy pages.  There is a list of needed materials for all the lessons at the beginning of the book.  The lessons include:

1. Watercolor Crayons (VIDEO)
2. Artists Compose
3. Artists Imagine
4. Identify and Mix Colors (VIDEO)
5. Artists Observe
6. Artists Communicate
7. Construction Paper: Cut (VIDEO)
8. Artists See Shapes
9. Construction Paper: Fold  (VIDEO)
10. Artists See Form
11. Oil Pastels  (VIDEO)
12. Artists See Texture
13. Artists See Landscapes
14. Artists See Still Lifes
15. Draw Shapes  (VIDEO)
16. Artists See Animals
17. Artists See Figures
18. Artists See Portraits

Each video lesson begins with a summary of the materials needed for the lesson and what you will be doing.  Next, there are brief instructions on how to prep and proceed with the lesson.  All of the non-video lessons begin with information about the topic and some simple questions to contemplate.  Next a work of art and artist from history is introduced.  A sample picture along with a brief description of the artists and picture are included.  There are also questions for you to discuss with your child about the picture.  I just love this.  Our schedule was to complete one lesson per week.   I thought we would be able to complete more lessons but our summer has proven to be quite chaotic.

Lesson 2 Artists Compose

The lessons are short but descriptive, and Little Bug is really enjoying them.  So far we have just covered lessons to do with the watercolor crayons because that is what she wanted to do.  We will get to the other lessons so I'm not worried that we didn't cover the other techniques yet.  Within the 18 lessons you will use watercolor crayons, oil pastels, construction paper and cut outs, glue, and scissors.

Our drawing subjects

Little Bug's pencil drawing

After Little Bug used the watercolors to fill in and paint

I thought I would try one with her and I must say an artist I am NOT!!  But it was fun.  The 14-year-old, who is a pretty good up and coming artist, decided to take a stab at Lesson 2 on Artists Compose.  He chose to use oil pastels instead of watercolor crayons.

My feeble attempt at Video Lesson #1
Watercolor Crayons

14 Year olds pencil drawing of Lesson #2

Completed version of Lesson #2 by
14 year old using oil pastels

I really like this art curriculum, it is a great homeschool art option.  Even though this is marketed as art for children you can still use it as a family as a nice family activity.  We have fun sitting at the table working on our individual pieces.  The lessons are short and simple and Little Bug did a pretty good job considering her ripe old age of 5.  She is technically still in PreK getting ready to officially start Kindergarten in the fall.  She did not have a problem (for the most part) in completing the art lessons we worked on.  She did want to do it "her way,"  but all in all she did pretty good. She really enjoys the watercolor crayons (absolutely fascinated how the water can change her crayons like it does!).

Both my children are budding artists and really enjoyed working on the projects in Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary.  We give ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray a double thumbs up!  The fact that some art history and artist recognition is woven into the lessons is wonderful.  The techniques that the children are learning are great too. We will definitely be looking into more from this series in the future.

I think we will try the animal cutouts next!!

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Please also be sure to check out what everyone else has to say about this book and the others that were reviewed.  Just click on the graphic below.