Homeschool art curriculum such as the Drawing Program from Creating a Masterpiece is a great way to add drawing instruction to your child’s day, and even though my son “The Artist” already had a natural talent, he and I thought that the Drawing Program would improve his skills and knowledge.
For the purpose of this review, we were given a one year subscription to the Drawing Program.
Once subscribed, you may use the lessons for each family member if you wish, but at this time only my son is using it. Maybe later on I’ll try too, but I have no drawing ability at all, so I don’t feel very confident.
This course is taught by master Artist and instructor Sharon Hofer. She makes sure the lessons are done in such a way that anyone, even a child, can follow them. My son says “She goes step by step and makes it easy for me to follow her. The lessons are fun!”
There are four levels in the Drawing Program :
- Beginning Drawing
- Drawing Level 1
- Drawing Level 2
- Drawing Level 3
Throughout the levels, there are 48 lessons, which cover 30 different drawings. The drawings cover:
- Drawing in Pencil
- Lessons in Charcoal
- Lessons in Colored Pencil
Paper used:
- Vellum
- Heavy weight Bristol
- White drawing paper
- Black drawing paper
While you can probably get the recommended supplies at a good art store, we chose to purchase ours online. When you look at each project, there is a link tto a list of supplies.
When we clicked on purchase supplies, it tooke us directly to a source for the specific supplies needed, with a cart pre-filled.
My son started right in at the Beginning Drawing level, doing the lessons in order. The first project was a cartoon giraffe, in which Sharon helps the student learn foundational concepts and skills of the cartooning style. The drawing on the left is straight from following the lessons, while the drawing on the right is what he drew afterward, using the skills he had been taught.
The drawing just below is called Simplicity, in which “The Artist” began learning about seeing and incorporating values and shading. He also spent some time learning about planning and moving through a pencil drawing.
Hoot Owl was fun, according to my son. In doing this drawing, he learned even more about the process of drawing. You can see the owl from the lesson at the top, and his versions below.
In Polar Exploration, he began drawing with a white pencil onto black artist paper.
In Field of Daisies, “The Artist” learned to use charcoal, vellum and an eraser to create his drawing. By laying down charcoal and then erasing selectively, this drawing was created!
Baby Elephant is also done in charcoal on vellum, but this lesson is actual drawing, as was done with pencil previously. This time, he draws with the charcoal. Isn’t he so cute?
In Moonstruck, Sharon taught my son more about the basics of value, shadow, and highlights as he created this drawing using colored pencils on vellum.
Angling For Trout is another drawing in which “The Artist” first laid down charcoal and then used an eraser to draw with, much like Field of Daisies. The difference is the paper. While Field of Daisies is done on vellum, this drawing is on white Bristol paper. On the left, you can see the trout from the lesson. On the right, you can see the drawing he did when he decided to draw a pair of salmon!
My son has recently started the Level 1 lessons, and did this beautiful piece called First Thanksgiving on vellum with colored pencil. In this lesson, he began learning how to draw fruits and vegetables and how to use colored pencils on vellum paper, and how to make them look three dimensional. I just love the look of this one!
Working with texture, value and showing movement, Arctic Seal was drawn in white pencil on black paper.
Overall, we feel that this program is a benefit to “The Artist’s” education. While he does have some natural talent, these lessons are definitely teaching him a lot that he didn’t know how to do. We are very happy that we were chosen for this review!
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