Artistic Pursuits- TOS review

  Artistic Pursuits offers a wonderful Art program for many different grade levels.  It was a joy to review!  I loved it and both of my girls (ages 8 and 13) loved it.  That in itself is wonderful!  My 8 year old liked that the lessons allowed her to draw what she wanted and my 13 year old liked that the lessons were short and not intimidating.  With this program they asked to do Art almost every day!

   We reviewed Artistic Pursuits 4-6 grade, Book 1 the Elements of Art and Composition.  It  teaches The Elements of Art:

-Space

-Line and Shape

-Texture

-Value

-Form

-form Using Value

-Local Value

-Contrast

-The Shapes of Natural Forms

-Edges

It also teaches Composition:

-Balance

-Rhythm

-Overlap

-Depth

-Proportion, the Face

-Movement


     Each lesson is broken into 4 parts covering Vocabulary and Creative Exercise, Art Appreciation, Art History, Techniques and Application.  The book is designed to cover a school year, with 2 lessons a week.   The pages are non-consumable so you can use the books again and again.

   The drawing above was done by my 8 year old.  Her assignment was to draw a picture using a photograph as a reference.  She chose an advertisement in a magazine and had to keep in mind the use of space and whether to draw horizontally or vertically.  The picture below was done by my 13 year old.  It was the same assignment and she used a photograph as her reference.

  The books are written so students can work independently but I chose to learn with my children.  The illustrations are wonderful (and plentiful!) and many pictures are drawn by students.  The courses are not intimidating but they do challenge you.  The art instruction is well written and interesting and the hands-on projects are engaging and fun.  I like the fact that they allow students to create Art in a way that is important to them.  Rather than just copying something, you are encouraged to use items or recall experiences that are special to the individual.  This was my first experience with Artistic Pursuits but we will definitely be purchasing more of their books in the future.

  

     My Dad has a passion for Art and has taken many classes over the years. While on vacation (yes, we brought  Artistic Pursuits along!) he asked to take a look at the book we reviewed.  He was very impressed and told me that he thought he could learn a lot from Artistic Pursuits, too!  
     Artistic Pursuits has books for many different levels including...


-Preschool
-K-3 Book One
-K-3 Book Two
-4-6 grade, Book One
-4-6 grade, Book Two
-Jr. High, Book One
-Jr. High, Book Two      
-Sr. High, Book One
-Sr. High, Book Two

   Artistic Pursuits has won many awards in the homeschooling community, including Practical Homeschooling Reader Awards, Favorite Fine Arts Product from the 2010 Homeschool Crew, and first place in the art category in the Excellence in Education awards.

The books sell for $42.95 each and can be purchased here.  Artistic Pursuits also sells the art supplies that go along with the books.  The prices vary.

Go here to see what other TOS Crew members thought about Artistic Pursuits.


*I received a copy of Artistic Pursuits, grade 4-6, Book One in exchange for an honest review.*