Reviews for Masterpiece Art Instruction CDs:

From Practical Homeschooling Magazine:

The Phonics of Drawing CD

2007 First Place Winner of the Interactive Learning Award for the art catagory.

From The Old Schoolhouse website:

"The Phonics of Drawing, named because it teaches the fundamental principles of drawing in a basic way, contains 30 art lessons in three levels that correspond to the stages of the Trivium. The Grammar Stage (Beginner) is for students in first through fourth grades, and they learn basic shapes and lines, basic color theory, basic shading and shadowing techniques as they imitate styles from classic artists. The Logic Stage (Intermediate) is for fifth through eighth grades, and the Rhetoric Stage (Advanced) is for ninth through twelfth grades.
Because each lesson is multilevel, the entire family could learn together. However, if you, Mom, do not want to teach, why not hand off the job to a high schooler? The lessons are easy to follow and kids from fifth grade on up could do them independently. Each lesson should take about an hour.

The CD contains everything you need to teach 30 weeks of art, except the supplies of course. Needed supplies, which are listed on the first screen of each lesson, include colored pencils, oil pastels, willow and compressed charcoal, charcoal pencil, white pastel, tinted charcoal paper, white drawing paper, newsprint paper, kneaded eraser, and a blending stump.

OK, so what are the lessons like? Well, insert the CD and the homepage comes up on your screen. You'll want to make sure that the screen is maximized for best viewing. Click on Lessons on the bar at the top of the screen. Then click on the picture of the lesson you'd like to do. For example, Lesson 7 is about Color Theory and the color wheel. So first I click on the student handout for that lesson and print it out. (Student handouts contain samples to go along with the lesson or something for the student to use while working on the lesson.) Then I click on the picture of the color wheel, and the lesson appears on the screen. It first gives a basic introduction to the lesson and a list of the supplies you'll need. You read the lesson (this is not a video-type lesson) and work as you follow along with each step. The lesson is not lecture-based; students learn by doing. In order to teach a class, just print out the lesson and read it almost verbatim. The lessons are easy to understand and teach and are fun to do.

This looks like a wonderful reusable art program to add to your homeschool. The lessons don't take a lot of time, and they teach art fundamentals that every student needs to learn. At $29.99, The Phonics of Drawing is a bargain as well!"

Product review by Dawn King, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, September 2006

From Mary Ann Kelley of The Homeschool Mom website:

"I can unreservedly recommend The Phonics of Drawing from Masterpiece Art Instruction as a great starting point for art instruction. It is called 'The Phonics of Drawing' because of the elementary way that fundamental principles are laid out. The student is taught the ABC's of drawing so that they can go on to draw anything using these concepts.

The 30 lesson CD-ROM contains instructions for ages 6-18 starting with charcoal drawings starting from simple shapes and progressing to rendering with colored pencils or pastels. Color theory is interspersed throughout the lessons. Last year we used a couple of the creations that
my children made from Masterpiece Art Instruction's projects and made notecards on cardstock as Christmas presents for their grandparents. The projects included such wonderful step by step instructions that even my 6 year old was able to create a beautiful gift using her picture!"

From Homeschool Horizons, Canada's largest homeschool magazine:

"If you are looking for a thorough, multi-level drawing program, then this (The Phonics of Drawing) is the one for you. You will find that your children will be producing wonderful creations in just a few, short lessons."

Customer Reviews:

"We have been using The Phonics of Drawing for our homeschool art class since September (meeting 2-3 times/month). The program is wonderful!

I teach both my children (ages 10 & almost 12) and a friend's daughter (age 13). They all love their lessons and have really made a lot of progress. They especially enjoyed the lesson when they drew without watching their hand - that was fun! They are all very excited about completing their teddy bear pictures.

Both my children love to draw and have incorporated the things learned from The Phonics of Drawing into their daily art adventures. My 10-year-old daughter, who enjoys drawing animals, has begun adding shading and highlighting to her pictures, which really brings them to life. My son likes to draw everything from cartoons to spaceships. Since beginning this
course, his art work has really improved.

Thank you for providing such an excellent art instruction program!"

Joy S.

"I have recently puchased the CD, "The Phonics of Drawing". It is a wonderful CD. I always thought you either had or didn't have it- the gift of drawing. I did not realize that you can learn lots of things if you were shown and taught how to. Thanks for a wonderful resource which I am using to teach myself and my daughter in Sydney, Australia.

Iman M.

Questions?

Contact Karine Bauch at: karine@teachartathome.com