10 Homeschool Art Resources for the Art Challenged
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When I was in 5th grade, we had Career Day at school. I dressed as an artist, complete with a white smock and a little red beret. (Red, not raspberry. I’m older than that.)
I wanted to be an artist for several years. Then, I came to terms with the fact that I don’t have much natural talent. However, over the years I have come to realize that the basic elements of art can be learned. We may not all be a Picasso, but most of us can learn to draw more than stick figures.
We can also teach our kids. Art tends to be one of the subjects that falls by the wayside, often because of that “I can’t draw a stick figure” mentality. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Art is much more enjoyable to learn alongside our kids than algebra, and it can be quite therapeutic.
I’ve collected some resources for you if you’d like to teach art in your homeschool. These resources are for art instruction – drawing, painting, etc. – not for art appreciation, art history, or artist study, though some may touch on that.
See the Light
Our family has enjoyed many projects from See the Light. They offer a full art course (that you can count for high school credit) along with several project DVDs. They also offer some free sample lessons online if you want to try them out.
Home Art Studio
We haven’t tried Home Art Studio because my kids were a little too old to begin the series when we discovered it, but I’ve always thought it looked amazing, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it.
Hodgepodge
The You ARE an Artist series started with the Hodgepodge kids’ grandmother sharing her passion for art with her grandchildren. It has grown into dozens of art tutorial books, giving you plenty to choose from. You can download a free sample to see what you think.
Masterpiece Society
I love the Masterpiece Society art courses from Alisha Gratehouse. She has a broad range of mixed media art course for kids and teens. I really like the mixed media seasonal classes. She also has a course specifically for women and teen girls that’s part art course, part Bible study.
Sparketh
Sparketh is another one I haven’t tried, but about which I’ve heard wonderful things. It’s an online subscription site with over 300 video lessons. New lessons are added weekly.
Artistic Pursuits
Artistic Pursuits offers art instruction books for kids in preschool all the way through high school. Brianna enjoyed the middle school series when she was younger. They even have a new series on sculpting. All the books are non-consumable, so they’re a fantastic resource for the entire family.
Barry Stebbing
Barry Stebbing offers a wide variety of art instruction for homeschooling families on his website How Great Thou Art. We really enjoyed the God and the History of Art set, which is designed for kids ages 10 and up and teaches beginning drawing and painting along with art appreciation in a 3-year course.
Art for Kids Hub
Art for Kids Hub features hundreds of free art instruction videos covering drawing, painting, sculpting, origami, and more. There is also a membership portion of the site offering ad-free video lessons, step by step printables, and exclusive lessons for members.
Hello Artsy
Hello Artsy is a free website providing video tutorials and articles about a variety of mediums, materials, and techniques. The series on pencil shading teaches the same techniques that Brianna’s pricey art class did many years ago. (Of course, it was totally worth it because she loved the class and the teacher was phenomenal, but if you don’t have access to local classes, this is a great resource.)
See? This tiny photo from 6 years ago proves that I learned to draw more than stick figures.
Amazon Resources
A few years ago when I was investing time into developing my artistic side, I discovered two invaluable resources on Amazon that are still sitting on my shelf today. Like, seriously. Right on the bookshelf next to where I’m typing this because you never know when the mood to create with something other than words will strike.
I highly recommend First Steps Drawing in Pen & Ink and Drawing for the Absolute Beginner.
Have I missed any of your favorite resources? Leave them in the comments!
This post is linked to Top Ten Tuesday and the Hip Homeschool Hop.
While my kids are very artistic, so I don’t usually have to do much with them art-wise, we do have a curriculum called Teaching Astronomy through Art which is very handy. ike Hodgepodge, it shows a lot of great techniques for chalk pastel drawings, and it also explains how to use oil pastels.
Thanks for mentioning Teaching Astronomy Through Art. I haven’t heard of that one, but I’m going to check it out. My youngest is taking astronomy this year, so that might be a nice tie-in.
Hi Kris,
Thanks for including my website, HelloArtsy, in your art resource roundup. It’s been an honor to help people from around the world learn how to draw and paint. Anyone can learn how to draw and paint with enough practice and proper instruction!
-John