There are some subjects that I can teach pretty well. Then there is art. I am oh so crafty but in no way gifted in the ways of art. I’m talking – my stick people are questionable. That’s why I love step-by-step video instruction from Creating a Masterpiece that can teach my daughter to draw using the Drawing Program.  This is a great homeschool fine art program for our family that provides instruction in an easy to follow way.

There are four different levels for the drawing program so your child can work at the level they are at. My daughter – who just turned 9 – used the beginner drawing program and found it challenging. Learning shading was both difficult and fun for her.  It was fun to watch her as she caught onto a new concept and worked on perfecting it.  

Each lesson gives you a brief description of the project, supply list, link to order the recommended supplies and a link to the video lesson. When you click on the link to the videos for each project, you can scroll down to see some helpful tips. I like reading through these so I can encourage my daughter to work on some different methods while working – for example – using the side of the pencil to add shading. She gets so focused on following the video that she doesn’t think to experiment with the things mentioned in the tips section so reading through that beforehand is helpful for us.  All skills that I couldn’t have given her any input on.  

The video lessons are broken up into sections instead of one long video so you end up with 2 or more videos. This allows your child to stop if they need to, maybe take a break if necessary – but my daughter liked the breaks because it gave her the chance to make her drawing as good as she could and to not feel so rushed. She is a perfectionist so being able to do her best work without the pressure of time was great for her.  

The directions for each lesson were easy for her to follow without any help from me. I loved watching her learn about shading or making the drawing look soft instead of scribbly. I can see that she is learning about techniques in this program as she progresses through the videos using pencils, colored pencils and charcoal. She has always been a fan of step-by-step drawing videos and these are more challenging than most she has done. While challenging, she is learning techniques and skills she wouldn’t have {and I obviously wouldn’t be able to teach her}.  I think her drawings turned out so great and she is happy with them too!  

Overall, we like using Creating a Masterpiece and if you are looking for simple instruction requiring little parent involvement – this is definitely worth looking into. Relatively quick lessons your kids can follow while learning new techniques. For more reviews on Creating a Masterpiece – click the image below.