Draw, Paint, Sculpt, Explore Art History! Level 8, Art Class for Homeschoolers

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 Rene Magritte, Jon Almeda, Lei Xue, Livia Marin, Brett Kern, Charlotte Mary, Winslow Homer, Rosa Bonheur and Albert Bierstadt. Young artists will learn many new art techniques while creating their own drawings, paintings and clay sculptures! This course is "Level 8" 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, 4, 5, 6 or 7" 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.  

        In this Level 8 class, students will complete a pencil drawing of a cylinder with realistic shading, practice blind contour drawing, sculpt a creative sea creature with clay, learn how to draw people in motion, explore Sumi-e techniques and paint red pandas, and create a landscape using the principles of atmospheric perspective.  

      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 5-13 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:  3-D Drawing and Shading -Cylinders
In our first class, 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 Rene Magritte use these techniques to create depth in 2-D artwork in order to create the illusion of three dimensions.  We will then work together step by step to draw a cylinder and use shading and blending to make it appear 3-D. If time allows, we will also use a fun technique to try blind contour drawing!

Day 2:   Clay Creatures - Part 1
In our second meeting, we will discuss how artists work with clay using a variety of techniques to create different forms. We will look at the amazing art of Livia Marin, Brett Kern and Charlotte Mary for inspiration and then work to create imaginative sea creatures from air-dry clay using a pinch pot method and slab construction.   
         
Day 3:  Clay Creatures - Part 2
In our third class, we will see how artists like Jon Almeda and Lei Xue use innovative paint techniques to add color to their clay forms. We'll review color theory and paint our clay sea creatures. If time allows we will also use clay to make creative coil pots. 
       
 Day 4:  Stick Figure Upgrade - Gesture Drawing
In our 4th class, we will begin by viewing and discussing the proportions of the human body and how to use these guidelines when drawing a person in action. Learners will then be shown how just adding a few upgrades to a regular stick person can result in a much more useful and realistic figure and how to progressively add more details to their figures. We'll also learn several easy and fun methods of practicing how to draw people in different positions so that they can continue working on their figure drawings whenever they wish! 

Day 5:   Red Panda Sumi-e Painting
Our class will begin by briefly comparing and contrasting examples of traditional Western landscape paintings with traditional Chinese ink paintings and Sumi-e Japanese art.  We will discuss the importance of patience and practice in traditional ink painting and will be practicing the different paint strokes that make up tree branches, leaves, and the form of the red panda. Learners will explore the different ways to hold and use their brush to create a variety of strokes with watercolor paint or ink. We will discuss the lifestyle and features of the Red Panda as we create paintings using the Sumi-e techniques and our imaginations! 

Day 6:  Landscapes With Atmospheric Perspective
In our final class, we will look at the amazing landscape paintings of Winslow Homer, Rosa Bonheur and Albert Bierstadt and discuss how artists use the principles of atmospheric perspective to add depth to their landscapes. We will work step by step to draw landscapes using these techniques and learners will be encouraged to add imaginative elements to their work. If time allows, we will use watercolor paint or any media of the learner’s choice to add color to our masterpieces! 

Please Note: This class is officially 55 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!