The Plan for Art

Just brainstorming.
August ’07 to January ’08 – Artistic Pursuits 1
+ 1 week of black and white photography (September)
+ 1 week of film art (October)
+ 1 week of calligraphy (November)
+ 1 week of monster trucks (January)
+ 1 week of dinosaurs (December)
+ 1 week of Keeping a Nature Journal (study of the book, in addition to weekly nature-journal-keeping) (September)
+ 1 week of Mary in Art (October)
+ 1 week of Jesus in Art (December)
+ 1 week of color photography (November)

January ’08 – Sept ’09 – Discovering Great Artists
+ 1 week of boat art
+ 1 month of Diego Velazquez (Great Painters for Children)
+ 2 weeks of black and white photography
+ 1 month of Joan Miro (Famous Artists)
+ 2 weeks of color photography

  • Six Frida Kahlo Cards (Dover)

Sept ’09 – Jan ’10 – Artistic Pursuits 2
+ 1 week of black and white photography
+ 1 week of calligraphy

  • Leonardo: 16 Art Stickers (Dover)

Jan ’10 – May ’10 – Teaching Art with Books Kids Love

  • February Artist of the Month: Matisse
    • Henri Mattise: Drawing with Scissors

+ 1 week of film art
+ 1 week of color photography

May ’10 – Sep ’10 – Artistic Pursuits 3

  • Six Picasso Cards (Dover)
  • Degas: 16 Art Stickers (Dover)
  • Cassatt: 16 Art Stickers (Dover)
  • Renoir Paintings Cards (Dover)
  • Renoir: 16 Art Stickers (Dover)
  • Six Monet Cards (Dover)
  • Eyewitness Books: Monet
  • Claude Monet Jigsaw Book
  • Henri Matisse: Drawing with Scissors
  • Pablo Picasso: Breaking All The Rules
  • Picasso: 16 Art Stickers
  • The Last Flowers of Manet
  • Six Van Gogh Cards
  • Van Gogh: 16 Art Stickers (Dover)

Sep ’10 – Aug ’12 – Storybook Art (Yena will be 10+)
+ 2 weeks of black and white photography
+ 2 weeks of calligraphy
+ 2 weeks of color photography

Aug ’12 – Dec ’12 – Artistic Pursuits 4
+ 1 week of film art

Dec ’12 – Mar ’13 – Artistic Pursuits 5
Mar ’13 – July ’13 – Artistic Pursuits 6
July ’13 – Oct ’13 – Artistic Pursuits 7
+ 1 week of black and white photography
+ 1 week of calligraphy
+ 1 week of color photography

Nov ’13 – Feb ’14 – Artistic Pursuits 8 (Yena will be 12)
– 1 month of Figure Drawing
– 1 month of Oil Painting

Feb ’14 – Jun ’14 – Artistic Pursuits 9
+ 1 week of black and white photography
+ 1 week of film art
+ 1 week of color photography

And we’re done with formal lessons.

Interspersing lessons with Gombrich’s The Story of Art this year… and monthly or bimonthly trips to art museums.
Aisa will continue The Story of Painting this year, and Paco will get started on it next year…
Next year Aisa moves on to Art Through the Ages, and Paco will tackle that in high school.
Postcard sized art will be available for perusal and self-education daily. These are from the series Mommy, It’s a Renoir! / Child-Sized Masterpieces. I bought these years ago but have only really used the ones from the first book.

I need to do it this way because Art is the one area we have been quite lax on, and what a pity if I should let this go on — though we are constantly “producing” art and viewing art and enjoying art, I’d like the kids to get a bit more formal (but still fun) instruction in art before they go to college. Considering that I was 3 credits short of an art minor it’s quite shameful for me not to pursue this for them.


References:
50 Artists You Should Know

Photography:

For Mom:
Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera by Bryan Peterson
Black and White Photography by Henry Horenstein
The Art of Black and White Photography by John Garrett
Photography by Barbara London

For the kids:
The Kids’ Guide to Digital Photography: How to Shoot, Save, Play with & Print Your Digital Photos by Jenni Bidner
Photography Guide For Kids by Neil L. Johnson
Photography (DK Eyewitness Books)
Art in Chemistry; Chemistry in Art: by Barbara R. Greenberg and Dianne Patterson (for Aisa)

Calligraphy
The Calligrapher’s Bible: 100 Complete Alphabets and How to Draw Them by David Harris
1-2-3 Calligraphy!: Letters and Projects for Beginners and Beyond by Eleanor Winters