Artistic Pursuits - Review

Artistic Pursuits

Junior High Book 1 - The Elements of Art and Composition

http://www.artisticpursuits.com/

Price: $42.95

Artistic Pursuits is a very different take on art curriculum for the homeschooled student. Most books offer step by step methods to creating drawings or art. Artistic Pursuits uses a different approach by exposing the student to the concepts and background of art then allowing the student to express himself using those concepts without any predefined steps.

“This book covers the elements of art and composition with emphasis on World Art! Students learn how to draw and gain understanding of how different ideas affect the look of the art made by cultures around the world.

Media Introduced: 2 grades of drawing pencil, black ink applied with pen and brush, wire sculpture.

Contents: 1. Space 2. Line 3. Texture 4. Shape 5. Form 6. Value 7. Line in 3 dimensions 8. Visual Paths in Line 9. Center of Interest 10. Balance, Symmetry 11. Balance, Asymmetry 12. Rhythm 13. Space Without Depth 14. Space With Depth 15. Perspective 16. Proportion”

I requested the opportunity to review this product because my thirteen year old son loves to draw using pencil and paper. He’s not interested in color or paint (you’ll find those in book 2). He’s already very creative and an excellent drawer, so the concepts and approach used in this textbook really worked for him. He enjoyed learning about different cultures and their art.

For the creative and artistic child, Artistic Pursuits allows him/her to go beyond what they have learned just using their own natural ability and develop new techniques and methods for expression.

That being said, if you have a child that doesn’t have a lot of natural ability, he/she may prefer a more directed approach to art. In our case, my younger son doesn’t have the eye or the physical dexterity for drawing that his brother does, so he didn’t feel as free to simply explore the art discussed in the lessons. Since we’ve only used Junior High, Book 1, he may have benefitted from using the earlier levels prior to trying this one.

We love art, but we find it hard to find ways to incorporate it into our homeschool day. This book is fairly self directed and has been a nice addition for my oldest son allowing him a little creativity amongst the rigor of math and science.

Here's a few of the pieces my oldest produced - pretty good if I do say so myself:

To see other reviews by the TOS Homeschool Crew click here.

*** I received a review copy free of charge as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew for my honest opinion.