Thoughts about Teaching Art

Raphael and Benjamin West, Jr., 1775

Art is a subject area which our children love. It has been relegated to drawing without instruction, to coloring without observation, to modeling without purpose. The study of the life of Benjamin West, Father of American Painting, is helpful. He learned his first lessons of shading, line, and perspective by his own efforts. These are principles which we will enjoy teaching our students- and the use of pencil, crayon, brush.

Lisa and Summer, thanks for asking me what I’m reading! Would you believe this quote is from A Guide to American Christian Education? It has been next to my computer for weeks as I ponder principles of mathematics. Art is still more enjoyable for me than arithmetic, but my passion for the “language of science” is growing.

So what books are you savoring? I’m tagging:

Here are the rules:

  1. Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.
  2. Open the book to page 123.
  3. Find the 5th sentence.
  4. Post the next 3 sentences.
  5. Tag 5 people.

(For those of us who count sentences, it’s true. I didn’t follow the rules. Shocking, isn’t it?)

Simply Art

Jenny of Little Acorns Treehouse shared a simple, beautiful solution for adding art to her homeschool.

2008 Art Page-A-Day Gallery Calendar 2008 Art Page-A-Day Calendar
By Workman Publishing

2008 Art Page-A-Day Gallery calendar is an art gallery for your desk. Here are hundreds of masterpieces, each meticulously photographed and reproduced, from the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Full-color throughout
Printed on high-quality paper
Clear plastic box becomes a desktop easel
6 1/4″ x 7 3/8″ x 1 5/8″

This calendar is now on my shopping list. Want to add it to yours? Click on the image above for more information, including additional views. Many different artists and time periods are represented.

Mixing simplicity with art suits me, and just think of all the possibilities for these prints.

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