14 Beautiful Monthly Artist Study Projects and Books for Homeschoolers
As a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, artist study has been a constant over the years. While I haven’t documented all our studies, I have pulled together several of them here for you.
Briefly: How We Do Artist Study
Most of the time, we focus on one artist per month in our home. Each week, one day consists of a different picture study using one piece of art by the artist. On that same day (art day), we will spend time reading about the artist using living literature and/or trying our hands at a “copycat” art or art using the same styles or media as the artist.
I keep a stocked stash of art supplies at the ready, and that’s it. Art and artist study once a week!
Our Artist Studies
Below is a picture of one or more of the projects we completed for each artist study, along with the living books we read.
Mary Cassatt
Books we read:
Suzette and the Puppy: A Story About Mary Cassatt (Young Readers)Mary Cassatt (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists)Mary Cassatt: Family Pictures (Smart About Art)
Paul Cezanne
Books we read:
Cezanne and the Apple Boy (Anholt’s Artists)Paul Cezanne (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists)
Edgar Degas
Books we read:
Edgar Degas: Paintings That Dance (Smart About Art)Degas and the Little Dancer (Anholt’s Artists Books For Children)
Albrecht Durer
Our Durer study was less conventional and very simple. Take a peek!
Paul Gauguin
Book we read:
Paul Gauguin (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists (Paperback))
Grandma Moses
I’ve written an entire blog post about our Grandma Moses study and projects!
Henri Matisse
Books we read:
Henri Matisse: Drawing with Scissors (Smart About Art)Matisse the King of Color (Anholt’s Artists Books for Children)Henri Matisse (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists)
Michelangelo
I’ve written an entire post about our month spent with Michelangelo!
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Books we read:
Pierre Auguste Renoir (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists)Renoir and the Boy with the Long HairSmart About Art: Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Paintings That Smile
Auguste Rodin
Henri Rousseau
Books we read:
Henri Rousseau (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists)The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau
Charles Russell
Book we used:
How to Draw 101 Horses & Ponies
Georges Seurat
Books we read:
Georges Seurat (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists)Sunday with Seurat (Mini Masters)Seurat and La Grande Jatte: Connecting the Dots
Vincent Van Gogh
Books we read:
Camille and the SunflowersKatie and the Starry Night by James Mayhew (2015-06-04)Vincent Van Gogh: Sunflowers and Swirly Stars (Smart About Art)
A Unique Way To Add Artist Study
On occasion, I’ve been a tad overwhelmed with “fitting it all in”. During those times, I’ve enjoyed putting together simple art centers that my children were expected to visit independently.
Enjoy artist study at your house!
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
We’ve done a few artists studies; we always have fun reading about their lives and trying to copy their style of art.
Have you ever done another artist study post? Surely you’ve created more projects over the years. I’d love to see them!
Jessica, we have completed other artist studies over the years, but these are the only ones I have documented for the blog thus far. As we do more, I plan to add them to this page. 🙂