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How do you spice up pcture study?
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Ok we’ve done picture study for 3 years now and to be honest I’m either doing something wrong or it’s just not working for us? We pick a artist and read a blurp about them. We have a picture or pictures in the living room. Once a week I will ask questions about it.
It’s dry, boring and I’m loosing my patience with it. What can I do to spice it up?
Hi
Have you tried painting like the artist? We are studying Georgia O’Keefe right now and we’ve been painting REALLY big like her. Or if studying Michelangelo paint while on your back? There have been several blogs over the years that have given me creative ideas for “add-on” stuff for my picture study.
Cindy in VA
Charlotte said to just let the kids look and make their own connections – so if you are asking questions beyond the usual 5 minute study and “tell me what you see?”, maybe it is making it more of a stress then is needed. I think of it as more of a “life enrichment activity” than an actual subject. However, we also are trying to incorporate some of the artists methods in our creative art class (I have a dd who wants to be an artist). There is an Usbourne Art Treasury book that helps you do that (I got mine from Amazon). I think that it would be a fun and welcome break in the schedule if you tried it.
Misty, have they been narrating the pictures? I don’t do it with *every* one, but several times in a study I have the kids narrate the picture to me in some way–they describe it, or try their hand at sketching it out. When they were small, they LOVED to “describe” it to me while I tried to reproduce what they described–that really made them aware of what they were saying! Plus they got to laugh at Mommy’s pitiful drawing.
One other suggestion–do you enjoy art? If not, try taking a “mommy culture” thing and find a good library book on the subject and educate yourself. Art, music, and poetry are really areas where Mother’s enthusiasm is catching–or her lack thereof is not. If you don’t love the subject yet, find out more until it is more interesting to you.
I really like the Discovering the Great Artists book, it has projects that make each artist fun. There are also a few free coloring pages of a few artists available online, and Dover has coloring books available. My kids weren’t big “colorers” but they did like those.
One year I had prints instead of just using books or a computer, and I “auctioned” off the prints to the kids after the year was over for little chores or favors, and they got to put their favorites in their room.
Also we loved the book Art Fraud Detective; it really got the kids looking for little details and “signatures” of the different artists.
Here’s how we have done enjoyed it. We read a book if we find one availbale. Once a week we come to the computer and look at the print until the kids believe that they can visual it with thier eyes closed. I turn the screen and each of us describe what we remember about it. Then we turn the screen back on and dicuss what we may have missed. Or who was right about the direction the people were looking..etc.. Once we have finished an artist I print a page of miniture pictures that we have studied for that artist and they each make a notebook page of it. If we read a good book on the artist I will have them narrate to me and then I will print that out and paste it to thier page.
As the years have passed they have been very excited as we come across previous artists that they have made connections with. So, far Mary Cassatt and some of Degas’ atrwork have been my daughters (6) favorite. Some of Rafael Sanzio’s, Leonard’s, and Albretch Durer’s art has been my sons (8) favorites.
Bookworm (or anyone else for that matter) – can you suggest any good books for “mommy culture” to educate oneself for art? I enjoy music and dd really enjoys poetry (she asks for it every day!), but I admit that we’ve both struggled a bit trying to get into art. I suspect, as you say, that that may have to do somewhat with my lack of enthusiasm since art has never really been my “thing”.
Thaks,
JenI have gotten some of the Dover coloring books for the artists and let my boys color the same pictures they are “studying” – they all are big colorers, so this is big fun for us 🙂
Jen, I highly recommend H.W. Janson’s The Story of Painting. It is accessible, informative, has nice prints. In fact I have my teens read it for an overview of the subject. There are even just a couple of plates in the volume that need “dressing”–if you get it I will even tell you what page they are on.
I help out the poor people by giving them taped sticky-note “dresses” Here are a few sites I refer to for artist study.
http://gardenofpraise.com/art.htm
Thanks Bookworm! I will have to see if I can get my hands on it. I think it is really true that educating oneself in the areas that aren’t really our “thing” can be really helpful…nature wasn’t really my “thing” eiher, but I find myself getting more and more into it as I have tried to work on identifying things so that I can interest the kids in it as well. I have even started my own little nature journal since I kept seeing things of interest to me that dd wasn’t interested in including in hers. Hopefully I can do the same with art!
Jen
I like the ideas here…
http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/2009/07/picture-study.html
Click on the bottom links.
I help out the poor people by giving them taped sticky-note “dresses” 
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