Art history for Mom

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  • December 13, 2015 at 10:24 am
    karivaz1
    Participant

    Dear friends,

    I took the plunge…I began to do picture study with my kids. I am in over my head already…I don’t know the first thing about art! We started with some works by Giotto and I quickly realized that I don’t know anything about why he is important or what is notable about his work…I didn’t even like it that much, but I know I would if I knew something about it.

    I found a blog called “Kathy, the Picture Lady,” which gave me some pointers about Giotto. So after looking at the pictures, I tried to help the kids notice how Giotto communicated that people have real mass through shading. I gave the kids a coloring page to shade with just one color. They loved it and wanted more. Oh boy.

    So I am lost as a kitten and would like to ask, can you recommend a good guide so that I can learn what is notable and important about the great art masters?

    Thank you!

    December 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm
    Karen
    Participant

    SCM sells a fabulous Picture Study Portfolio —  here.  I own them all and use them!  They are literally open and go.  I generally read the story of the artist over a span of 3 weeks or so.  Each week I put up a new picture and we look at it.  The guide gives you a little jumping off point – sometimes we use it, sometimes we don’t.

    I LOVE them!!!  I would not be doing artist study if I had to go find pictures for each artist, find books about each artist, etc.  I do sometimes supplement or replace the guide’s story about the artist, if I can find a book or two at our library.

    One thing I really appreciate is that all the pictures are totally appropriate for all ages – no nudity.  As my girls get older, I plan on introducing them to the whole work (for example, Michelangelo’s David).

    I bought the printed packs – and they are printed on high-quality cardstock.  I put a piece of clear packing tape on the back of mine (flat), and then roll up masking tape and use that to stick them to the el-cheapo frame that I have.  That way, I can pull off the masking tape and put the pictures back in the portfolio.  (The clear packing tape stays.)

    December 13, 2015 at 9:45 pm
    sarah2106
    Participant

    I was going to suggest the same, the SCM picture study portfolios are amazing! It gives me everything I need to help lead picture study and learn so much!

    December 14, 2015 at 1:33 pm
    pslively
    Participant

    We also use and highly recommend the SCM picture studies. Here are a couple of other suggestions for you: Story of Art by Gombrich; How Should We Then Live by Schaeffer (for learning the worldviews behind the different artistic movements); and Khan Academy has an art history course on their website.

    December 15, 2015 at 3:44 pm
    petitemom
    Participant

    I purchased the SCM picture study for Giotto. That is a great resource. I could not afford to do it with every artists and also SCM does not carry every good artists, that would be impossible.

    I have been using library books. With some artists it is easier to find children stories about than with others. I also look online for art activity for children related to those artists. There are a lot of ideas out there.

    I have really been enjoying studying many different styles, even doing some I do not like as much is a learning experience and makes me appreciate more other artists. Not planning on doing any modern art though.

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