We've always enjoyed the experience of reviewing art programs, and one of our favorites was Creating A Masterpiece. Recently, we got another opportunity to review for Creating A Masterpiece - this time we used their new Drawing Program. This time when I say "we" I really do mean I used it as well!
Master Artist and teacher Sharon Hofer is the creator and instructor of Creating A Masterpiece. Students are invited into her art studio via the internet to learn fine art skills so they can produce their own high quality masterpiece artwork. There are sets of Core Lessons from Beginner through Level 5, and each level offers projects in ink, mixed media, pastels, and other media. There is also a section of Styles of Art in History, some Historically Themed Projects, and a Capstone Program. We previously reviewed the Core Levels, with Kennady completing several of the projects. (See our previous review here: Creating A Masterpiece - A Homeschool Coffee Break Review)
The newest addition to the instruction offerings is the Drawing Program. In this series of lessons, Sharon Hofer focuses on drawing skills using pencils, colored pencils, and charcoal. The video instruction guides students step by step through the process of planning and creating their own fine art drawings, and along the way they learn about values, shading, and perspective. Sharon believes the drawing is a skill anyone can learn, and I decided to put that theory to the test by attempting a couple of projects myself!
How did we use it? We received a one-year subscription to all levels of the Drawing Program. We already owned most of the supplies (pencils, erasers, colored pencils, various kinds of paper) so one quick trip to the art supply store for some willow charcoal and a couple other items set us up with everything we needed except the time to sit down and get started. I asked Kennady to choose what she wanted to start with, and hoped she would choose something in the Beginning Drawing level that I thought I might be able to do as well! I was thinking that cute cartoon style giraffe, because it appeared to be the simplest; but she decided she really wanted to the one titled Moonstruck. It's a cat silhouetted against a window with a huge moon in the night sky. I worried. I'd said I would try the drawing as well, but I was sure I would embarrass myself with my lack of artistic ability. So is drawing a skill anyone can learn? Take a look at our work and see what you think:
You can see that our finished pieces vary a little from the sample Sharon drew and are a little different from each other. These are not trace and color pieces - Kennady and I each drew our own window, cat, moon, and tree, and although we followed the same instructional video, we each had our own take on it. This particular lesson has six videos, each between five and ten minutes long. The videos were easy to hear, see, and understand, and could be paused at any time to see or hear something again or to give the artist a bit of time to catch up. And because they were separated into six videos, it was easy to take a break and come back an hour or a day later if needed. I finished my Moonstruck project in one sitting of just under two hours or so. Kennady took a break and put the final touches on hers the next day.
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| Moonstruck sample from Creating A Masterpiece |
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| Highlight frames from the video lessons provided for students to reference |
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| our works in progress |
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| Moonstruck by Kym, September 2019 |
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| Moonstruck by Kat, September 2019 |
You can see that our finished pieces vary a little from the sample Sharon drew and are a little different from each other. These are not trace and color pieces - Kennady and I each drew our own window, cat, moon, and tree, and although we followed the same instructional video, we each had our own take on it. This particular lesson has six videos, each between five and ten minutes long. The videos were easy to hear, see, and understand, and could be paused at any time to see or hear something again or to give the artist a bit of time to catch up. And because they were separated into six videos, it was easy to take a break and come back an hour or a day later if needed. I finished my Moonstruck project in one sitting of just under two hours or so. Kennady took a break and put the final touches on hers the next day.
Let's take a look at Kennady's next project, also done with colored pencils. She jumped to Drawing Level 2 because she wanted an Orbiting Saturn. This one also uses vellum paper, which is a little more expensive, but it's recommended that you cut it into smaller pieces since that's easier to work with. So this Saturn drawing would be on a piece about one fourth of a whole page.
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| video, part 1 |
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| video, part 2 |
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| video, part 3 |
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| video, part 4 |
And in perhaps an hour at the most, Kennady had her completed Saturn.
The final project I'll show as part of this review is Field of Daisies, and Beginning Level drawing using charcoal. I love daisies, so I was interested in this project, but I don't know anything about drawing with charcoal. I reminded myself that it was a beginner level project and that the cat had actually turned out well, so surely I could handle this! Turns out you don't actually draw much with the charcoal. You scribble with the flat of it and then create the drawing by erasing it!
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| Field of Daisies project highlights and finished sample |
Again, the videos were easy to follow, and I felt free to pause whenever I needed a bit more time. In the end, I spent about an hour creating my very first charcoal project. (My photo of it is a little blurry, and I'm not sure why) By the way, Kennady acted like she was impressed, so I am encouraged!
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| Field of Daisies by Kym, October 2019 |
I want to try a few more projects at least! I love Simplicity and Antique Lantern in those levels, and in Levels 1 and 3, I'm most interested in First Thanksgiving, Alaskan Wilderness, and Snowed In. Kennady often enjoys artwork as a stress reliever, and I seem to remember her being particularly interested in the Arctic Seal, Penguin Family, and the Tabby Cat.
Is it worth high school credit? I usually try to answer this question for curriculum that could be used by high schoolers, because often we feel that it's not worth our time and money if it's not worthy of mentioning on the transcript. Final answer? This would be dependent on how much time the student put into these projects and how often. A student that completed a good portion of these projects and kept track of the time spent on it would earn a well-deserved Fine Arts credit in my homeschool.
What we liked best:
- so easy to follow along with the instruction, and since the video lessons are in sections of 10 minutes or less, it's easy to break the project down into smaller time blocks if needed.
- a shorter and less expensive project supply list than the rest of the program
- truly suitable for all ages. Elementary school age children could complete these projects, yet as an adult, I didn't feel that it was childish or "too young" for me at all. Sharon's presentation and manner of speaking is subtly geared towards younger students in places, but never in such a way that was obvious or patronizing.
What I need to mention:
- while the videos played beautifully and without stutters or interruptions on our laptop computers, they tended to be a bit jumpy on my desktop. I would guess that's because the desktop is the oldest of the three, but I mention it because if it doesn't work smoothly on one device it may work just fine on another.
Our bottom line: As with the rest of the Creating a Masterpiece program, this is an impressive art instruction program that helps students produce beautiful high quality art. It's enjoyable and personally rewarding, which makes it even easier for me to give it my warm recommendation. Take a look at the free Sample Project and see what you think!
Would you like to draw your own masterpieces? Here's what you need to know:
Pricing: A one-year subscription to the Drawing Program is available for $199.
Age recommendations: Suitable for all ages, from Kindergarten or Grade 1 up.
Read our previous review of Creating A Masterpiece: Creating A Masterpiece - A Homeschool Coffee Break Review
Read our previous review of Creating A Masterpiece: Creating A Masterpiece - A Homeschool Coffee Break Review
You can follow Creating A Masterpiece on Facebook.
Visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog for more information and to read other reviews.
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