Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Most of my kids enjoy art to some degree, but my daughter is the true artist of our home. She is always looking to improve her skills and widen her abilities, so I'm excited when we get an art-related review for her. While she can knit and sew and embroider and cross stitch and create with clay and spark her creativity in a dozen other ways, she has been focusing specifically on her drawing and painting skills.
She was eager to get pen to paper--or rather, brush to paper--with Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course PLUS 3 Bonus Courses, a brand new set of classes from Beyond the Stick Figure Art School.
Beyond the Stick Figure is taught by Sally, a trained artist from England. After pursuing her dream of a career in art, she moved to the States, got married and had kids, and started homeschooling. It was while teaching her own children that she realized that the ability to create art wasn't given only to those with a gift, but could be taught to anyone. Just like learning to read or to play an instrument, art techniques should also be taught incrementally. Piece by piece, skill upon skill. Anyone can be an artist!
She started these classes as a way to share her passion and help budding enthusiasts learn the skills they need to succeed.
There are 4 types of courses included:
The drawing course is divided into 3 units with multiple steps broken into days. Remember, Sally's goal is to train artists by teaching them skills incrementally. She begins the course with encouraging the students to find shapes in the world around them: circles, dots, and various lines. Drawing takes place on day 6 when the students begin practicing the shapes they've found. On day 12, the shapes are combined to draw a flower. The remaining 3 days of the unit cover primary and secondary colors and learning to overlap shapes.
There are downloadable pages of drawing guides included with a few lessons along with a checkup at the end of each unit to evaluate your students' work and help keep them accountable.
She started these classes as a way to share her passion and help budding enthusiasts learn the skills they need to succeed.
There are 4 types of courses included:
- Drawing
- Pen & Ink and Watercolor
- Acrylic
- 3D Design
The drawing course is divided into 3 units with multiple steps broken into days. Remember, Sally's goal is to train artists by teaching them skills incrementally. She begins the course with encouraging the students to find shapes in the world around them: circles, dots, and various lines. Drawing takes place on day 6 when the students begin practicing the shapes they've found. On day 12, the shapes are combined to draw a flower. The remaining 3 days of the unit cover primary and secondary colors and learning to overlap shapes.
The second part eases the students into learning to draw things that look realistic. Each day, the student focuses on a small shape in a box. For instance, the first one looks something like a triangle coming out of the side of the square. The student practices that shape in each box on a 4x4 grid. The 33 lessons in part 2 are similar in style.
The third and final part of the drawing course is 5 days and teaches how to combine those random shapes into a flower. It reminds me of those grid pictures that you find in activity books, where the child copies the picture by drawing each portion in the corresponding boxes. It is neat to see how all the pieces come together.
As I mentioned, my 12-year-old loves art and is already fairly skilled. I had a difficult time getting her to work through the drawing lessons. She was bored and could not be motivated. Because of Sally's philosophy of teaching step by step, you cannot move to further lessons or mediums without completing them in order. We ended up doing what many homeschoolers do and adapted the lessons to fit our needs. We sat down one day and clicked through all the lessons in all the courses. Once my girl saw the acrylic videos, her excitement rekindled.
The acrylic course, like all the others, is divided into 3 parts and walks through 3 projects step-by-step over the course of many days. My daughter loved creating these artworks! She learned how to blend her colors to create an ombré sky, how to finger-dab realistic wispy clouds, how to use a toothpick to make a grassy meadow, how to use color to create perspective, and more useful skills. She even took a simple cloud painting and made it her own by adding a hot air balloon. I love watching her abilities blossom.
Sally's videos are calm, slow-paced, and filled with instruction. Each one is short (I don't think I've seen one that's longer than 10 minutes) so it's easy to find time to add art into your day. One complaint that my daughter has is that she can't make the videos full screen. Sometimes she would like to have a bigger visual instead of the small image on the computer. Also, Sally is soft spoken and has a bit of an English accent. Even with the volume all the way up, it can be difficult to hear and understand in a busy household. It can be tricky to keep 4 boys quiet while their sister is trying to create a masterpiece! Otherwise, the videos are easy to understand and it's fun to see how she pronounces some things differently than we do.
There are downloadable pages of drawing guides included with a few lessons along with a checkup at the end of each unit to evaluate your students' work and help keep them accountable.
A purchase of Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course PLUS 3 Bonus Courses will give you lifetime access to all of the classes for everyone in your family. There are over 180 lessons that are good for anyone ages 5-95. If you can draw a stick figure, you can learn to draw your own realistic masterpieces.
You can connect with Beyond the Stick Figure on the following social media sites:
You can see more art projects by reading the reviews on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.
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