Art Book: Fine Art Adventures

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What would you do if I told you that you could explore 18 different masterpieces with your student, using those 18 masterpieces as inspiration for doing 3 different art projects with students 6 years old and up?   Wouldn’t that just peak your interest?   It certainly did mine.   Today I would like to introduce Fine Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw.

First let me tell you about the authors.  Maja has written several art books and has over 20 years experience teaching art to children.   Jill has used her art history degree as she’s been writing and editing books since 1990.

Fine Art Adventures was written with the novice art teacher in mind.  Just assemble the needed supplies and open the book and teach your art class. 

The book is divided into sections: Colour, Black & White, Shape, Animals, Portraits, Landscape, Myths & Legends and Light & Black.   In the landscape section we look at three different paintings: Winter Landscape, Mone Sanite-Victorie and Nocturne in Blue and Silver.  Each of the 18 paintings comes with two art lessons.  

Before you start the lesson you are given a history on the artist and his painting.   

Next comes a picture of the project along with pictorial steps (with text underneath) of the project along with a materials list. 

Each of the projects is simple enough to do.  They could, most likely, fit into an hour long co-op class…guess what I am thinking of doing???   Having a fun art class!

Most of the projects use materials easily attained in most basic art stories, others might take a bit of sussing out on amazon (like shrink plastic), but not that difficult.   Then it’s just a matter of sitting down with a group of children and having fun doing some art.  (and learning some history at the same time).

My thoughts:
I like this book and how it is laid out into sections.  It would so easy to teach art to your children/students as the lessons are well laid, with hints about when to use speed, how to mix up your paints, or whatever else you need.  The instructions are easy to read and having the pictorial alongside makes it super easy to follow. I love how each of the lessons grabs a hold of ONE idea from the painting studied and then finds a way to work with the idea presented.  Some of the ways are SO COOL!  🙂  I want to do this book so bad with some students, I think it would be so much fun.

In showing it to an art teacher, her response was “wow…that would be so interesting to do”, and “did you see this lesson?…what would be good to show the colours..oh, I like this”.   (she said she’ll be looking for it!)

Fine Art Adventures: 36 creative, hands-on projects inspired by classic masterpieces
Maja Pitamic & Jilll Laidlaw
Chicago Review Press
144 pages
Softcover, art, resource, children’s art
Age: 6 and up

Where can you find it?
Amazon.ca: Fine Art Adventures.
Amazon.com: Fine Art Adventures: 36 Creative, Hands-On Projects Inspired by Classic Masterpieces