Let's Talk ART, BABY

Anthony's "Where the Wild Things Are" 

Alex's Flowers for me 

Alex's Drawing (from 4th grade) of Schultz and Tuffy with him

Anthony's self portrait from Preschool

Art is a major part of my homeschool curriculum, whenever possible we talk about the art of books we are reading, art in history, nature crafts/art when we are taking a walk, and many other areas that escape me at the moment:) I find that it pops up whenever I least expect it, especially when driving in the car, which is why the boys almost always bring their sketch books! I have a bonus in my pocket though, my hubby is an artist, he can do just about anything art related. (Well except for the crafts,LOL not his area, that's MINE)

We did do one art curriculum that the boys loved and learn a lot about how art has been used throughout history. EVEN telling hubby a couple of things that he didn't know about it! (plus in my book teach the teacher) Mostly, it is hubby teaching the boys techniques to draw then giving them an assignment of what he wants them to draw that week. It is a time that I know that the boys will cherish for years to come.

From reading a lot of forums and group emails, I have noticed that most homeschooling families out source the subject of art. I figured that it might be good to list some of the sites that I have found online to help those of you that don't have a live in art teacher. These are books and sites that I have used in the past when hubby is working and the boys want to do some art to show him when he gets home. A site that we have used on more than one occasion is cartooning for kids ,they have other areas for you to check out on there but the boys LOVED the hound dog lesson. YouTube is another great resource ,just type in "How to Draw" and you will get a great list of videos. We used HelloKids, to learn to draw dinosaurs, which are a favorite in my house. How To Draw site has tons of different lessons from Transportation to Manga lessons, and everything in between! Artists Helping Children Draw is a fun site for kids because most of the how to lessons on there are on drawing their favorite cartoon characters from shows. The boys love books like these How to Draw series, or these Manga How to draw books.

So... have you used a site or curriculum that you loved for ART?? Share it below so everyone can benefit!!!

Art in Our Life



(These paintings are from my husband's site http://www.shanepierce.com/, he has done some wonderful paintings of the boys. Please note that there are other works on his site, that may not be suitable for all ages.)



Yes I am bragging a little here but I wanted to share with you, the paintings my husband did of the boys. There are more on his website (link above), he has some wonderful paintings and sketches that he did in a matter of minutes or in weeks of working on them. Of course, I am lucky enough to have them on my walls in our home to see everyday.   I can't tell you how much I am inspired by having his artwork all around me. From the very first unicorn pencil drawing that he did for me (well I was 17 and in love!) to his latest new series of paintings, he can always amaze me with what he can do with some brushes,canvas, paints and his imagination. We have some from other artists my husband knows and even one that was done by his grandfather. I even dabbled in painting when I was a child, Anthony has one of my paintings of the ocean up in his room. So our boys had no chance of not having art in their lives.  Just like families that have a science or history back ground, we make art a part of our life every day.

I make it a point to have several online sources for the boys to get onto to learn about art, play some art games, watch videos on how to draw something or even incorporate it into a computer program like Scratch. I thought that I would list a couple here for you to look at if you are at a loss of how to add more art into your kiddos day.

Learninggamesforkids.com ~ has several art games that my boys have played in the past.
Time4art.com~ is part of our Time4learning program, my oldest loved it so much that he did it three times! Even telling us some facts that his dad didn't know!
HelloKids ~ a fun site that can teach kids of all ages how to draw the most popular things.
ActivityTv ~ gives videos on how to draw some fun cartoon animals.
Manga University ~ for any teen interest in drawing manga characters, popular with my oldest!
YouTube Videos~ like this one for drawing Bart Simpson, one of our favorite 10 year old cartoons!
DragonArt.com~ this shows one of our favorites How to draw dinosaurs.
Art History online~ great examples of original master pieces from well known artists.

Along with countless numbers of "How To" books on drawing from Amazon or the local bookstore, which we have a ton of on our bookshelves.

This is, of course, only a few of the many great resources online! Just like I include literature,math ,science and history into our studies, I feel that it is equally as important to add other forgotten or over looked subjects, LIKE ART!