I received Volume 1 in See the Light’s Art Class DVD series to try out with my kiddos. This DVD contains four art lessons that teach kiddos “the basics” of art.
In lesson one, kiddos are taught about the tools of the trade. During this short 8-minute segment, master artist Pat Knepley goes over some of the supplies that the kiddos will need to put in their art supply kit, including pencils, paper, and crayons.
In lesson two, kiddos learn that it all starts with a line. In this segment, Pat talks about the different kinds of lines that can be drawn, and she demonstrates how to make a contour drawing.
In lesson three, kiddos learn about contours & composition. Pat has the kiddos practicing a contour drawing of two apples while also discussing the importance of composition and planning your drawing.
And in the final lesson kiddos are asked to draw what you see…literally. Pat talks about drawing exactly what you see. For instance, when you draw a profile of a person, you only draw the parts of the face that you see. The kiddos then practice a contour drawing of what they see using a tennis shoe.
This DVD also contains a 20 minute bonus segment entitled Chalk-It-Easy Chalk Art Lesson. In this segment, See the Light chalk artist Gloria Kohlmann teaches kiddos how to draw a stunning chalk drawing of “Cross Hill”.
Our Experience
Before showing this DVD to my kiddos, I watched it for myself…just to make sure that we would be prepared for the lessons. While I was watching it my ds4 came into the room. He immediately asked me to pause the DVD so that he could get a pencil and some paper…he wanted to draw along with Pat {the art teacher} :).
Pat refers to these short art lessons as the “You Can Draw Art Club” and the way that she presents the information makes the kiddos want to do art. After previewing the lessons with me, my kiddos begged to try the lessons out so I set out the necessary art supplies at our kitchen table, turned the DVD on and let my kiddos get to work.
I was very pleased with the art that all three of my kiddos produced {and so were they :)}…even my 4yo was able to apply some of what he learned from the See the Light art lessons.
My Thoughts
I really like the ease of use of this art program. Since I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, I loved that this DVD allowed me to bring an art teacher into my home to teach my kiddos :).
The lessons are presented in short segments {each segment is about 15 minutes long}…and just the right amount of information is presented so that my kiddos were not overwhelmed.
I also appreciated the way that Pat interspersed scripture and Biblical truth throughout the art lessons.
If you are looking for a simple, fun, and easy-to-implement art program to use in your homeschool, I would definitely recommend you check out the See the Light curriculum. Right now the Volume 1 DVD {the one featured in this review} is available for free on See the Light’s website :).
More Information
The See the Light art curriculum is designed to be used with kiddos ages 6 and up {1st grade & up}. I have a 4yo, 7yo and a 9yo and all three of them enjoyed this program.
You will need some basic art supplies {regular pencil, colored pencils, crayons, paper, eraser} for the first four lessons. You will also need a device on which to play the DVD.
For a limited time, See the Light Art Class Volume 1 {The Basics} is available for free on See The Light’s website. You can also view the first three lessons from the Volume One DVD here.
You can purchase the entire collection of 9 dvds {one year of lessons} for $99.99. This one year set contains 36 step-by-step art lessons taught by Master Artist Pat Knepley. You can read more about the one year set here. You can also access a link to download a pdf of the curriculum contents on this page. {See the link under the graphic of the 9 CDs}
See the Light also offers an online subscription to their art lessons for $10/month. You can read more about this option here.
I received a free DVD from See The Light in exchange for my honest and unbiased review of our experience with this product. I did not receive any further compensation for my review.
