I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.
Over the past six weeks my children (13 & 10) have been taking the Beginner Level, Art Core 2, Painting with Watercolor Pencils from ARTistic Pursuits and have learned how to mix colours to get the effects they want through watching the video lessons. They’ve also been learning some art history along the way. Read on to find out more about this class.
Table of contents
What is ARTistic Pursuits?
ARTistic Pursuits are homeschool art lessons geared to students ranging from Kindergarten to high school level. You can read a previous review we did almost exactly 6 years ago on Early Elementary K-3, Book 1: Introduction to the Visual Arts.
This time we received two year’s access to Beginner Level, Art Core 2, Painting with Watercolor Pencils. For our current class there is the option to purchase a printed copy of the textbook, but we received the online version, in the form of a flip-book and streamed videos. (It is also available as a hardcover book and a DVD/Blu-Ray).
Beginner Level, Art Core 2, Painting with Watercolor Pencils
This online class is a mix of reading from a flipbook, watching videos, and putting the skills learned in the lessons into practice on paper. In this program there are 9 units:
- Primary Colors
- Secondary Colors
- Tertiary Colors
- Complementary Color Pairs
- Neutral Colors
- Color Tints
- Color Values
- Monochrome Colors
- White Space
Each unit has 4 lessons:
- Art Materials: Video Instruction – The first lesson is a video lesson where students are walked through how to use watercolour pencils for the project; how to blend, create swatches and colour wheels, define lines, and other principals. Then it’s time for the students to create their own painting using this technique.
- Creativity: Building a Visual Vocabulary – In this lesson students learn about appropriate terminology such as primary, secondary, tertiary, tints, colour values, etc.
- Art Appreciation And History – In this lesson students learn about an American artist. They study a painting, answer questions about it, and learn about the life and times of the artist.
- Master Lesson: Assimilating Knowledge and Skills – It’s time for another hands-on project. Gather still life items or a photo/postcard and use the techniques learned in this unit and put them to work.
Supplies Needed
Most of the supplies you’ll already have on hand such as brushes, a jar for water, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, and a geometric compass. The specialty items you’ll need are watercolour pencils, watercolour paper, and a T-square (not absolutely necessary, but handy).
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How we used Painting with Watercolor Pencils
My children dove right in and have been blazing through this course. They usually do 2 lessons at a sitting (one lesson in the flip book and then one hands-on lesson). They’ve been doing this about 3-4 times a week for roughly an hour a time. This has meant that instead of the program taking 18 weeks, they’ve almost completed the course already after 6 weeks.
I started out watching the lessons with the children, but they then continued to do them on their own at the time of day that suited them best. They usually work at the kitchen table, but they have also been known to take their class outdoors.
What Did We Think?
My 10-year-old daughter says that this class has made her more creative in other areas, such as her crafting creations. She appreciated that they lessons weren’t made so that students simply copy what the instructor does, but rather they are given the techniques and then told to find their own objects or pictures to draw and paint.
Tristan says he’s learned about monochromes and complimentary colours that he previously didn’t have any experience with.
The lessons are easy to follow and set up. My children enjoyed it, and they’ve made some beautiful pieces of art using techniques they hadn’t known previously. They’ve learned about the colour wheel and how to use it, how to mix colours to get the colour they want, and they can mix them with neutral colours to make darker shades and shadows. I also picked up a couple of tips that I’ve used when using watercolour pencils in my adult colouring books.
If your students have an interest in learning how to use watercolour pencils, this is a good first class for them to learn and practice how to use them effectively.
More ARTistic Pursuits Information:
Read 45 reviews about ARTistic Pursuits‘ different classes by the Homeschool Review Crew. If you’d like to know more or would like to follow SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you can connect with them through their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
