Art Pacs: what level to get for untrained artists?

[Rhondabee]

4th gr and 7th gr ds's like to draw, but they haven't really had any real training. (We tried the Thomas Kinkade LifePac, and didn't get very far.)

I was looking at the 5th grade level. Would this be an okay level for a beginning student without being "too young" for my older son (who'll be 8th grade next year)? I did like that it seemed to have both drawing and painting. (I also liked that it seemed easy-to-do for mom!)

Thanks!
Rhonda

[Beth in Central TX]

We are doing Artpac 5 & 6 this year.

Artpac 5:
Coloring (Lessons 1-7)
Drawing (Lessons 8-14)
Painting and Paint Mixing (Lessons 15-20)
Lettering (Lessons 21-28)
Grid Work (Lessons 29-36)

Artpac 6:
Shading & Shadow (Lessons 1-6)
Drawing Faces (Lessons 7-11)
Lettering (Lessons 12-16)
Grid Drawing (Lessons 17-22)
Scherenschnitte-Cutting designs from paper (Lessons 23-25)
Drawing Animals (Lessons 26-30)
Perspective Drawing (Lessons 31-36)

You get 6 to 8 pages of instruction for the whole year. Each lesson has about a paragraph of instruction to the child. The artsheets and grid paper are provided. Each year builds upon itself as it teaches the different aspects of art.

I haven't seen Artpac 7 or 8, so I can't say that you couldn't start at grade level. However, if you wanted to start below grade level, then I would probably go with Artpac 6. Artpac 5 has a younger feel to it. Just my opinion though...

HTH!

[Rhondabee]

nt