This fun weekly art class is perfect for a full art curriculum for homeschoolers or any young artist seeking art enrichment with a variety of art media! Over six weeks, learners will explore a variety of famous artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Ana Schmidt, MC Escher, Keith Haring, and Wu Guanzhong and learn many new art techniques while creating their own drawings, paintings and sculptures! This course is "Level 5" in the series of art classes that I offer, but it is not necessary for a student to have already taken "Level 1, 2, 3 or 4" before participating in this course!  You may enroll in a different level before or after this class to complete a full semester or more of high quality art education.  (Note: Level 6, 7 and 8 classes are coming soon for 2023 and 2024!)

 In this Level 5 class, students will complete a drawing of a house using basic linear perspective, a chalk line drawing, a paper figure sculpture, a Sumi-e painting of bamboo using watercolors or ink, a value scale and a 3-D drawing of a cone with shading. 

These projects introduce and reinforce art history, vocabulary and artistic skills that form a strong foundation of knowledge for young artists to progress in their creative development. I have designed these lessons in conjunction with my other classes to provide learners with a comprehensive art curriculum from ages 5-15 that is fun, process-oriented, and fosters personal expression and creativity!

I focus on building skills, self-confidence, and personal artistic expression in all of my classes.  My teaching style is fun, easy going, patient and encouraging and all levels of artistic ability and experience are welcome and celebrated! 

Day 1: Introduction to Linear Perspective and Atmospheric Perspective - House Drawing
In our first class, we will learn about the basics of linear perspective and see how Leonardo da Vinci and Ana Schmidt use these techniques in their art.  We will work together to learn how to draw a dog house (or any building the learner chooses) with linear perspective and atmospheric perspective so that our building and environment appear to be 3-D! 

Day 2: Sumi-e/ Chinese Brush Painting 1
Our class will begin by comparing and contrasting examples of traditional Western landscape paintings with traditional Chinese ink paintings and Sumi-e Japanese art.  We will learn how all cultures value different characteristics in their art, which makes it clear that there is no right or wrong way to make art!  We will discuss how advances in transportation, communication, and the internet have now made it possible for artists all over the world to share ideas and techniques with each other and for viewers to admire the art of many cultures. We will discuss the importance of patience and practice in traditional ink painting and will be practicing the different paint strokes that make up a bamboo painting.  Learners will explore the different ways to hold and use their brush to create a variety of strokes with watercolor paint or ink. 

Day 3: Sumi-e/ Chinese Brush Painting 2
This week we will briefly review what we learned about the history of ink painting and how to use our brush to create a variety of paint strokes. We'll explore the amazing paintings of Wu Guanzhong for inspiration.  Then learners will put all of their new knowledge to use by creating a beautiful bamboo painting from start to finish.  If time allows, students will then extend their learning by adding some Chinese characters to their painting, if desired, and learn how to use their new skills to create other features common in traditional landscape paintings.   

Day 4: Chalk Drawings Inspired by Keith Haring
This week we'll learn about the exciting chalk subway drawings of artist Keith Haring from the 1980's and discuss how he used symbolism in his art. Learners will create their own visual symbols to express themselves and their unique personalities in their own chalk drawings!  

Day 5: Sculptures Inspired by Keith Haring
We'll continue looking at the art of Keith Haring and view some of his fun sculptures! Learners will use paper strips to create their own 3-D figure sculptures or "action figures" showing a variety of gestures of their choice. We'll finish our class by brainstorming and experimenting with other objects that students could create with paper now that they have learned this exciting new sculpture technique!

Day 6:  3-D Drawing and Shading a Cone
This week we'll be learning how to use shading to create the illusion of 3-D art! We'll begin our class with a discussion about the meaning of value, shading, and blending and see how artists such as MC Escher use these techniques to create depth in 2-D artwork in order to create the illusion of three dimensions. We will learn how to create a value scale and use shading techniques to make five different values with pencils and then use a blending stump (or a Q-tip or a finger) to blend our values.  We will then work together step by step to draw a cone and use shading and blending to make it appear 3-D!  

 Please Note: This class is officially 50 minutes long but may run longer for children that work more meticulously on their art. I am always happy to stay in class past the official time with these artists!