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Aug 22 2022

Fun Sun Projects

Art Teaching Resources: Sun-related Projects

Summer is almost over and it’s time to head back to school. Here are some fun sun-related art and craft projects to help you to remember the fun you had on some of those hot summer days.

EASY SUN-MOON COLORING PAGES: Younger children will enjoy coloring these simple images of the sun and moon.

http://www.morningkids.net/coloring-pages-418-en-stars-sun-moon.html

MORE COMPLEX COLORING PAGES: For children who are a little older, this Web site provides some more complex coloring pages related to the sun, weather, etc.

http://www.edupics.com/coloring-pages-weather-c252.html

SUN HANDPRINT CRAFT: You can do this fun craft with construction paper or paper plates (for more durability).

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/summer/msun.htm

Take your art to the next level with See the Light videos:

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Aug 15 2022

Do You Have a Creative Child?

by Jim Pence

Do you have a creative child?

Creative children can be a challenge to raise. They can be messy, disorganized, moody, perfectionist, and generally difficult to deal with. In this post, I’m going to cover a few of the most common personality characteristics found in creative children. Although these traits can be found in anybody, they seem to occur more frequently in imaginative or creative children.

If your child thinks the world is his canvas, you might have a creative child.

Is your son or daughter always painting, drawing, building–making–something? You probably have a creative child.

Incidentally, although most of the references in this post refer to art (drawing, painting, etc.) the same characteristics apply to the child who is composes music, who likes to write stories, make movies, do crafts, cook, do woodworking, and so on. Creativity isn’t limited to painting and drawing.

If she sees the world from a different angle, you might have a creative child.

My daughter did an abstract painting when she was younger, and it still hangs in our bathroom. She hung it at an angle, and her older brother would straighten it out every chance he got. But it didn’t take long before Charlene would restore it to it’s “proper” angle.

Both of our children are grown now, but when our son comes to visit, he usually straightens the painting out. And when our daughter comes by, she puts it back at an angle.

If she wants to try out for the next season of America’s Got Talent, you might have a creative child.

Many creative children love to perform for an audience–even if the audience is only made up of stuffed animals.

When I was a young boy, I loved to sing for imaginary audiences. Because of severe allergies, I spent a lot of time in an air-conditioned bedroom. (Back then, only rich people had central air!)

In the privacy (and security) of my room, I listened to and sang songs from Broadway shows to an audience only I could see. It was many years before I worked up the courage to actually sing in front of real people, but the desire to perform was strong.

By the way, even if your child isn’t a “performer,” when they show you something they have created they are, in effect, performing. They want your approval. Don’t feel the need to be an art critic. What they need is your affirmation and encouragement.

If you are building a collection of non-representational art, you might have a creative child.

One of the awesome things about children is that when they are young, they are completely free in what they do artistically. Color a dog purple? Sure. Draw a green sky? Why not? Unfortunately, as we grow older we become more conventional and “in the box.” If your child is still a free spirit when she draws and doesn’t worry too much about whether something looks “right,” you might just have a creative child.

If your child needs space at times and tends to crave solitude, you might have a creative child.

We live in a society that thrives on activity and social relationships. However, sometimes we creatives need our space. I can tell you from personal experience that being around a lot of people is emotionally draining for me. Although I’m not a total recluse, I frequently feel the need to pull back and have down time–especially if I’ve been at an event where there are a lot of people in attendance. So if at times your son or daughter seems to need more time alone than his/her siblings, you might have a creative child.

Disclaimer: I am not a child psychologist. My observations about creative children are drawn from my own life experience as a creative child, and now a creative adult.

Take your art to the next level with See the Light videos:

And don’t miss these free resources from our blog:

Aug 08 2022

Is Art Education Important?

How important is art education?

I came across an interesting online poll sponsored by Liberty Mutual.

There was only one question: Is art education important? Only a “yes” or “no” response was permitted.

Out of almost 18,000 responses, the results were almost evenly divided, with the “yes” voters having a slight edge. 52% of the respondents said that, yes, art education is important, while 48% voted “no”.

Now, it’s important to take a poll like this with quite a few grains of salt. First, it was not a scientific poll with a random sampling. Anybody who came across this poll could vote on it. So it’s not necessarily an accurate measurement of public opinion on the subject. [Note: The poll is no longer available online.]

What I found most interesting were the twenty-seven comments left by people who had read or participated in the poll. The greater majority of the comments came from readers who believed that art instruction was very important. Here’s a sampling of some of their responses:

“I believe art gives choice and freedom to people, and enables many to express themselves.” – Rebecca R.

“What is more useful in today’s changing world than critical thinking, collaboration, or creativity? These are researched benefits of art education.” – Matt

“Appreciation of the arts (music, dance, architecture, etc) is enriching, engaging, and like candy for the soul.” – ACAgal

“Creating art strengthens your problem solving ‘muscles’…. It also helps to teach students to appreciate the communication that is intrinsic to all art forms.” – Eileen

“An education or training in the ability to truly see the world in art makes life fun and full of wonder.” – Caroline G.

One of the saddest responses comes from someone who apparently is in a school system that does not have art as part of the curriculum: “I agree art gives kids a break from graded work and it relieves stress they got rid of art at my school and if I try to draw in study hall they would send me to detention.” – BallenaJ

Choice, freedom, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, enrichment, problem-solving, fun, wonder, a nd communication are just a few of the benefits of art education. This month, the See the Light Blog will focus on why art education is important and should be a key part of any homeschool curriculum.

So, what do you think? Is art education important? Join the discussion by leaving a comment below.

Take your art to the next level with See the Light videos:

And don’t miss these free resources from our blog:

Aug 01 2022

How to Teach Art (Even if You’re Not an Artist)

When people ask me how they can teach art at home, I suggest a systematic approach.

First, keep it simple. Even one 30-minute session a week is great.

Second, build your lessons around the art elements.

What are the Art Elements?

Depending on whom you ask, there are between five and seven art elements line, shape, form, texture, space, value, and color.

By learning about the various art elements, your children will begin to understand how art works. In time, they may use those elements to create more sophisticated artwork, but at first just let them have fun.

LINE – All art begins with a line. To learn about lines, you don’t many supplies, just a pencil, eraser, and paper. Practice drawing and creating with lines: straight, zigzagged, vertical, horizontal, squiggly, curved, parallel, thick, thin, and whatever else your child’s imagination drums up.

SHAPE – Shape is flat, two-dimensional, and is created when lines intersect or close in on themselves. There are geometric shapes (circle, square, triangle, etc.) and organic shapes (shapes that don’t qualify as geometric). To experiment with shape, plan a shape scavenger hunt around the house. Have your children identify the shapes that make up different objects. Then have them draw some of these objects by drawing the shapes that make them up.

FORM – Shapes are flat; forms are three-dimensional. An easy and fun way towork with form is to work with clay, or even something like PlayDoh®. With older children, you might try soap or wood carving. If you have a child who likes to draw and wants a challenge, have them draw an object and shade it so that it has a 3-D look.

TEXTURE – Texture is how the surface of an object feels. Texture is smooth, rough, shiny, bristly, soft, furry, scratchy, and so on. A fun exercise for learning how to use texture in art is to take white glue and mix some sand in with it. Then, using a foam craft brush on heavy paper, paint a design. Be sure to keep the glue thick. Once the glue has dried, lay a sheet of aluminum foil over the paper and gently smooth it down with your hands. The foil will take on the texture of the glue and sand underneath.

SPACE – In art, we talk about two different kinds of space: positive and negative. Positive space is the space that an object takes up. Negative space is the space in and around an object. An easy exercise to help your child understand how to use negative space is what I call the Superman drawing. Find a copy of the iconic “S” shield from Superman. Draw the diamond shape and have your children try to draw the S inside it. After they finish, have them repeat the drawing; however, this time draw the shapes around the S instead of the letter. They will still draw the S, but they will be amazed at how much easier it is to draw. In the following photo, it is possible to draw the chair and it’s shadow by merely focusing on drawing the empty space in and around the chair. Give it a try.

COLOR – Color is the most fun element to work with. A set of inexpensive watercolors, brush, and watercolor paper are all you need. Using only the three primary colors (red, yellow and blue), have your children create an abstract painting. Let them experiment with color and see how many different colors they can create, just using the primaries.

VALUE – Value is the lightness or darkness of a color or shade. One way to learn to work with value is to create a drawing on a dark surface using only highlights. For example, use black construction paper for your drawing surface and light colored or white chalk to draw on.

By using the art elements as the foundation for your home school art class, you can begin to equip your students with the skills and understanding they need to cultivate their own abilities and create their own unique art.

If you’re not clear on how the elements work, this short (5 min) video should clarify things for you:

Check out these additional posts:

And don’t forget to shop the See the Light Art store:

Jul 25 2022

How to Draw a Landscape

There are many different ways to draw or paint pictures of God’s amazing creation.
In today’s post, I’m sharing several awesome tutorials that will help you explore the limitless subject matter that we find in nature.

Step by Step

This is an awesome site with 16 step by step landscape tutorials. They’re good for middle graders but might be a bit complex for younger children. However, it should be easy to simplify them a bit if your preschoolers or early grade children find them too challenging.

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/how-to-draw-landscapes.htm

Next, here’s a tutorial on how to draw in basic (1-point) perspective, an important skill if your landscapes are going to look realistic.

https://artprojectsforkids.org/draw-perspective/

Video:

Finally, this video could best be described as “a blast from the past.” The artist is Jon Gnagy (read about him here). He was the original “TV Art Teacher.” This is an excerpt from one of his TV programs. It’s black and white, and his delivery is very old school. (It’s okay for the kids to giggle a bit.) Nevertheless, he was a good teacher and your children might find themselves having quite a bit of fun as they draw along with him.

Bonus:

Here’s a bonus video. This is a really creative project where you can draw a landscape and create a see-through stained-glass window effect. Fun stuff!

And if you want to take your art to the next level, be sure to check out See the Light’s in-depth workshops below…

Jul 18 2022

How to Draw Waterfalls

I love drawing waterfalls. There’s just something about looking at a painting or photo of a waterfall that is wonderfully relaxing. Here are some awesome resources for learning how to draw waterfalls:

STEP BY STEP

This website has two step-by-step line drawing tutorials. The first is very simple and basic, and would be great for young children. The second has a little more detail and would work well for children who want a little more of a challenge.

http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-a-Waterfall

This is another step-by-step, but with a lot more detail. Good for older children and high schoolers who want their drawings to look more realistic.

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/how-to-draw-a-waterfall1.htm

REFERENCE PHOTOS

Need source material? Here’s a website with links to a lot of beautiful waterfall photographs. These will make great reference photos for a more advanced student who wants something to work from.

http://www.waterfall-picture-guide.com/

VIDEO

Finally, here’s a short (10 minute) video demo of how to draw a waterfall with oil pastels. It moves kind of quickly and doesn’t have narration, so you’ll probably need to stop the video frequently to catch up. But it’s still worth giving it a try.

Blog

Art Teaching Resources: Sun-related Projects

Take your art to the next level with See the Light videos:

And don’t miss these free resources from our blog:

Take your art to the next level with See the Light videos:

And don’t miss these free resources from our blog:

How important is art education?

Take your art to the next level with See the Light videos:

And don’t miss these free resources from our blog:

Check out these additional posts:

And don’t forget to shop the See the Light Art store:

Step by Step

Video:

Bonus:

STEP BY STEP

REFERENCE PHOTOS

VIDEO

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