ARTistic Pursuits "Art for Children" Review
I really enjoy art so I was excited when I was given the priviledge of reviewing ARTistic Pursuits Inc. and their ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray series. There are several courses to choose from but since I have all beginners we started with the “Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary”.
First off, I was very pleased with the quality of the hardback book and its binding. It has vibrant colors throughout which really help to catch your children’s attention. It also came with 2 videos, one a dvd and the other a blue-ray.
Each of the lessons is short and to the point. My kids really enjoyed the videos 🙂 The book has the lesson plan all laid out for you and tells you step by step what to do. Its been made very simple for the parent/teacher. Even if you aren’t artistic you can still teach art with the help of this book/video series.
The videos are very engaging and a bright, upbeat music along with simple, detailed instructions. Your kids aren’t held to a certain standard they have to achieve to make art. They simply are given the tools to create their own masterpieces.
The book/video covers watercolor crayons, composition, imagination, identifying and mixing colors, observation, communication, construction paper cutting projects, shapes, form folding (construction paper), oil pastels, texture, landscapes, still lifes, animals, figures, and portraits.
We have been able to work through several lessons this summer already. I’m working with a 7 year old boy and a 4 year old boy. We covered the watercolor crayons and picked objects from their toys to draw. The 7 year old stuck with the subject, whereas the 4 year old was rather creative and did his own thing 🙂
We also did some of the construction paper projects and made a Canadian flag because we were studying Canada at the time. I also helped them make different flowers with construction paper and a bird.
The oil pastels were super neat. One thing I really enjoyed about this program was that it was very geared towards younger children and was much tidier than actual paints. You know what happens when you give 2 boys paint….Exactly…I really don’t need to say anymore about that, lol. Oil pastels are really fun to work with, I did several projects with the boys and was surprised at how much we all enjoyed them.
Next, I am planning on getting them to branch out and continue drawing and painting with the crayons. I’m also going to do the construction paper folding projects with them. I think that will be really fun!
I should note this set was geared towards K-3, however I really think you could start any age out on this even if they are older than the recommended age. I also wanted to note that I ordered all my supplies online from Wal-mart and spent under $20 for everything. I did already have a few things on hand.
I highly recommend this series and look forward to continuing it! I hope you’ll check them out and be sure and check out the other reviews below!