(x-post) Draw Today vs Drawing Basics vs ?

[hsmamainva]

Has anyone used either one of these art curriculums?

Draw Today is in the Sonlight catalog and Drawing Basics is Thomas Kinkade's program that's sold by Alpha Omega.

This would be for my oldest son, who's turning 14 on Monday and will be a 9th grader this fall.

He LOVES art, and he wants to major in art in college and, now that he's reaching the high school level, he really wants to improve his drawing skills. I also know that he'll have to start keeping a portfolio for college admissions.

I have no artistic ability whatsoever, so I want something with a DVD base to offer him that visual instruction component.

If anyone has any other suggestions, please offer them as well!

Thanks!

[Karen in CO]

My dd really improved his pencil drawing skills by working through the Mark Kistler Draw Squad.

[elegantlion]

We used Drawing Basics with Thomas Kinkade this year. While I enjoyed Mr. Kinkade's teaching, we did not like the Lifepac format. This program is also geared toward younger children, my ds is in 4th. I do not believe it would be appealing to a 9th grader, it would most seem childish.

[gail]

We used Draw Today. It was nice but . . . it bothered me that the "drawing" was really erasing. The student uses charcoal to black out the entire page, then uses erasers to "hollow out" the picture based on a drawing grid.

This is not bad, but it seemed counterproductive to learning how to actually draw. I was interested in teaching the rudiments of perspective, shading, etc.

Draw Today is one way to learn to draw. I was not satisfied with it as my sole art curriculum. I felt it needed supplementation with other forms of drawing instruction.

[hsmamainva]

Thank you everyone! :)

I'll make it a point to look for Draw Squad at our homeschool convention, which is in less than 2 weeks.

Has anyone used Visual Manna's Master Drawing?

That's another one that may work for him, but I'd love to hear from anyone who's used it.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I hope others keep telling us what they used successfully. My 15yo has wanted a curriculum and I should have gotten one ages ago. We got some off of wowio but they aren't complete or they assume too much previous knowledge.

TIA,

[Pamela H in Texas]

Karen, did your dd use just the book or the whole video system or?

Thanks

[Karen in CO]

He just used the book. He didn't see the point of the first lessons (something about teenage boys and motivation in there), but once he got into it, he enjoyed it and we both credit it with helping him to feel confident in his ability to draw.