Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any way.
Issac and I have been working our way through Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course PLUS 3 Bonus Courses by Beyond the Stick Figure Art School. This is a video based program that includes downloads for many of the lessons to help your student learn the basics of drawing. We've been having a great time working on some of our basic drawing skills. Do you know how hard it is to draw a perfectly straight line? I think we all say we can do that, but when you sit down and do it they typically aren't straight. I found that I tend to rush when I'm drawing things like straight lines or circle. There really IS a skill involved to make those things look great. One of the great things about this program is that is geared for those 5-95, so really pretty much any age.
Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course starts out teaching the very basics. There is first a nice little welcome message as well as a message just to the moms and then a basic supply list. I like knowing ahead of time what we might need in the next few weeks, so that we can be prepared. We started off working on straight lines, squiggly lines and circles. One thing that the program suggests is that you work on small sections of paper. Take a regular sheet of computer paper and cut it into 4 sections. That way you use a smaller area and your child, or you, won't feel so pressured. I found this to be both good and bad. For my son it helped with him feeling overwhelmed, but as we moved further through the lessons many of the printed worksheets were harder for him because they were a smaller space. When I felt he needed it we just tried drawing the shapes on a larger scale for him. That's the great thing about programs like these that they give you the basics and then you can chose how you use them. The drawing part of the program was divided into 3 different sections with multiple lessons. The lessons all build on each other working from the basic shapes, outlining them, coloring them and then putting them together to form other pictures. After all the drawing sessions were done there is a nice little "How am I Doing" section that I really enjoyed. It's got a little rubric that you answer and see how many "points" you earned during the session. The max is 12, but it was just a little feel good section I thought that would help build students up.
As we moved into the pen and ink lessons we learned how to draw with a pencil and trace over it with a permanent marker. The main goal here is to draw with the pen/marker. We used an even smaller section of paper than previously to do a nice little pen drawing and then learned about watercolor washes. For me I thought it was nice to be able to look at a small square that I drew and feel that I did a good job. The lessons then move into a further detailed drawing that included learning more about tracing. Again at the end of this section is another rubric to check in and see how you are feeling about your progress.
As you move through the program your student learns to use watercolors, acrylics and venture into 3d design. We learn what basic materials we need to do these projects as well as how to use these. There are different ways to use watercolors as well as acrylics and we are taught the difference in the program. We have spent most of our time in the drawing sections, but I'm looking forward to the acrylics and the 3d. This program builds on each previous lesson, so you must complete all the initial drawing sections before you can move on to the next session. This is both a positive and a negative I think. It helps the students learn step-by-step, but then if you have a child that is naturally gifted it's harder to jump ahead to where they would feel more comfortable.
This is a nice "one size fits all" type of program in that you can use it for your entire family as well as learn different methods of art. The lessons are taught through video and you can easily see what lesson you are working on or which lesson comes next. Once you purchase the course you have access to it for life! There is also a 30 day money back guarantee as well as great customer support if you need it.
There were a few things I didn't really care about in regards to the Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course PLUS 3 Bonus Courses. The price is a little intimidating for me, but after breaking down the entire cost by the amount of lessons that I received I felt much more comfortable about the price. My main concern was that you can't seem to skip around in the program. We had to do each lesson from each area before we could move on to the next. While I mentioned earlier I think that's great to help build on skills it was a little frustrating for my son because he felt we spent too much time drawing the same thing. I would like to be about to move about without having to complete each lesson. The other thing that was a bit of a struggle for me was the printing of the worksheets to use in the lessons. There were usually 4 sections of each type and I felt that we didn't use all of those and it was a bit of a waste of paper. I know that it's recommended to practice, but many of these lessons my son didn't want to do any further practice.
All in all we've enjoyed our time spent with Beyond the Stick Figure Art School. I've learned that it's really not as easy ad I thought to draw a straight line, but when I take my time and do things step-by-step I can draw a pretty nice flower :) This is an especially great value for those with several children at home and you are wanting to bring more art to your schooling. I like that the lessons are available for lifetime as well. There were 80 families reviewing this program, so please go check out the drawings that were done by the other families. As always for more information check out Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube.
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