Artistic Pursuits Inc {Review}

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of Artistic Pursuits- Color and Composition 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.

Artistic Pursuits Inc provides art curriculum for all grade levels. In the past, my daughter has used ARTistic Pursuits High School – Elements of Art and Composition with great success. This year, we are diving into ARTistic Pursuits High School – Color and Composition and I cannot wait to see what she creates!

About ARTistic Pursuits High School

Artist Pursuits Inc has created two High School level courses that take students through the basics of art skills through the understanding of colors and how they relate to each other. Each course counts as one high school art credit and is a great elective to add to a student’s transcript.

ARTistic Pursuits High School Book One- The Elements of Art and Composition is a great starting place for students with very little or no prior art exposure. The lessons are broken down in a way that is easy to follow and needs no parental assistance.

With the use of only pencils and charcoal, students will create original works of art as well as learning important techniques on topics such as space, line, texture, and value.

They will also learn from the works of some of the best European artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Durer, Raphael, Tintoretto, and more. Upon completion of the course, students will have created over 60 original drawings using pencils and charcoal and will be prepared for college-level art classes.

Take a peek inside High School Book One here

ARTistic Pursuits High School Book Two- Color and Composition allows students to build upon previous skills using paint as the medium. The book is broken into units and each unit includes lessons on:

Building a Visual Vocabulary
Art Appreciation and Art History
Techniques
Application

The lessons are thorough and if scheduled twice per week, this book will take you through a full 36 weeks of instruction. Each lesson should take the student around one hour to complete.

Students using this book will create their own original painted works of art as well as learning about topics such as tinting hues, color intensity, complementary hues, balance, rhythm, and more. In addition, students will study the works of European artists such as Van Gogh, Marc, and Picasso.

Upon completion of this book, students will have painted over 60 original works of art and will be fully prepared for college-level art classes. This course can count for one art credit on a student’s high school transcript.

Take a peek inside High School Book Two here

Our Experience

We chose to try out ARTistic Pursuits High School Book Two- Color and Composition. My daughter went through Book One a few years ago and recently she has been very interested in watercolor, so I knew she would be into working through this book.

I love that these books are written so the student can complete them independently. This book jumps into the “Mysterious Language of Color” and teaches students the rules of using the color wheel, color variations, and color mixtures, and how to correctly exaggerate colors, among other topics.

There are supplies needed to complete these projects. They can be purchased individually or as a supplemental package on the Artistic Pursuits website. We chose to purchase just the needed items that we did not have on hand, however, if we did not have a robust art supply at home I would have opted for the premade package of supplies.

Each lesson in the book starts with instruction about colors and how they relate to one another. There are full-color illustrations including reproduced works of art from masters in the subject.

This is followed by instruction about the artist who’s work is being discussed, information about the art piece, and then the actual assignment. I love that each assignment gives examples of work completed, but also encourages the students to take artistic liberty and create their own masterpiece.

The end results are not the focus as much as understanding the techniques and instruction that is presented in the lesson. Therefore, grading this subject is simple in that completed work and comprehension of the material results in a passing grade.

My 10th grader is loving this curriculum. She has been painting up a storm and the best part is that beyond the lesson assignment, she is taking the information she is learning and continuing to create beautiful works of art.

I would recommend Artistic Pursuits Inc art curriculum for any homeschool parent wanting to give their students a broad understanding of the basics of art. This could ignite a passion for art in your children or allow them a way to express the creativity that is inherently born in all of us.