If you’re wondering how to do picture study, or feel intimidated by it, this one’s for you. Our children deserve to experience the finest the liberal arts have to offer. You don’t have to have a background in art history to enjoy fine art! Keep reading to find out how.
Picture study is one of those subjects you can feel tempted to overcomplicate.
Whether it’s because you love art so much and want to squeeze every drop of meaning and enjoyment from it, or because you always feel like you’re ‘doing it wrong’.
I’m here to tell you, as a totally normal, non-art major, regular person (ok, ‘totally normal’ is stretching it ;)) that EVERYONE can and should enjoy picture study.
What Is Picture Study?
Picture study is a subject popular among Charlotte Mason homeschoolers in which you simply enjoy a piece of art together, discuss it, and maybe read a little about the piece itself and/or the artist.
It can also be referred to as artist study.
Through picture study, students are exposed to a wide array of fine art of many different styles, traditions and mediums.
This practice not only beneficial for learning art history, but also for training the eye to beauty. As we talked about in this post, Beauty is one of the three Transcendentals that give meaning and purpose to life.
How To Do Picture Study
- Take a print of the piece you’re going to study. Don’t tell the students the name of the piece or anything in particular about it yet.
- Study it closely for a few minutes. See what your kids have to say about it, what they notice, what it reminds them of, etc. You can answer these for yourself as well, but be sure not to do all the talking.
- Once you feel you could describe it with your eyes closed, turn the picture over and do just that! Help each other work together to describe the work without looking at it. What was at the top? The bottom? What patterns did you notice? Colors? Light and shadow? What were the subjects of the piece?
- Reveal the piece again and “check”. Did you leave anything out or remember anything differently?
- Tell the students the name of the work and the medium (e.g., oil on canvas). If you have any information to share about the work, you can do so now. For instance, Albrecht Durer used his wife, Agnes, as a model for the Virgin Mary in his painting, Virgin with Child and Saint Anne.
- Typically, the mother-teacher will choose several works by the same artist to study over a Term, of even just 6 weeks. That way the students can get to know an artist and his or her style. I like to read a narrative style biography, or sometimes watch a few YouTube videos about the artist over the course of those weeks.
Do I Need A Curriculum?
A curriculum is no necessary for picture study, but it can be hlepful.
To do picture study on your own, you simply need a high quality print of the art you want to study. This can be from a fine art book like this one, an art print set like these, or in a pinch you can even view them on a screen. And of course, seeing real pieces in person at a museum is wonderful!
In the past I’ve allowed my students to view art pieces on my laptop screen, or cast them from my phone onto our smart TV.
If you’re on a tight budget and don’t have any suitable books, try The Met’s open access gallery online. It’s what I use for my Unit Study Guides (which are also a great way to get started with picture study by the way!)
Resources For Picture Study
If you’re looking for a little structure to help you out, here are some great resources we’ve used. We find them to be extremely helpful!
Picture Study Resources For Your Homeschool
Picture Study Portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason. These portfolios are an all-in-one resource for you which makes it very straight forward. Each comes with 8 beautiful art prints from the artist of your choosing. It also comes with a handy guide that includes a short, narrative-style biography of the artist, a how-to guide on picture study, and questions, thoughts and insteresting tidbits about each art print. We've loved using these for Durer and Monet!
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's website has an entire open access gallery for you to enjoy. Whether you choose to print your pieces yourself, have them printed at an office supply store, cast them to your smart TV or even just look at them on your laptop screen, this resource is incredible for getting started with picture study. Simply do a little reading on the artist you've chosen, then observe one piece from that artist per week.
Choose an artist from A Humble Place and order a beautiful set of prints. This website is a treasure trove not only for the prints themselves, but also for blog posts all about picture study. Have fun looking through Rebecca's free resources as you begin your picture study journey.
Ambleside Online has a free picture study curriculum (along with about every other subject you can think of) with recommendations for books and prints to purchase. Look through their archive of previous years' artist choices as well as the current one. You can jump in any time and go at your own pace. Rread articles while you're there to learn more about teaching picture study. Ambleside Online can seem a little daunting at first, but with a some navigating you'll find an amazing collection of resources that will give you a hnad-up with picture study.
My own unit study guides. These guides revolve around holidays but can be used at any point in the year, especially the picture study aspect. Each guide includes 3 or 4 art prints, notes on how to teach picture study, and book recommendations for diving deeper. I especially loved writing the guide for St. Patrick's Day which focused on Thomas Cole as the artist. I also highly enjoyed teaching it to my own children. I know you will too. You can find the other guides under the "Holidays and Occasions" tab on my homepage. Just pop your email in the offer box on the post and it'll come straight to your inbox totally FREE 🙂
We’ve only scratched the surface with picture study today. I’d love to write more on this topic and share even more tips!
I can’t express enough how much picture study has enriched our homeschool. I look forward to it every week!
I hope this post has been helpful to you. Let’s keep talkin gin the comments!
Have you ever tried picture study before? Do you have a favorite artist? What have you found difficult about picture study? Let me know!
In the meantime, I think you’ll enjoy these posts:
Thanks so much for reading,
-Tara
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