Mason said that the art training of children should proceed on two lines—expression and appreciation. In this section, Erin Day will talk about the benefits of picture study and the methods and goals of art instruction. We also include an immersion of a picture study lesson.
Art Appreciation (8 min.)
Art Appreciation is also referred to as Picture Study. Students in all grades usually study the same artist each term and observe 6-8 works by each artist. (High school students may study another artist or even a collection of artists.) Students' study increases in sophistication as they get older, integrating content from Art Instruction courses.
There is not just one way to do a picture study. Many of us are most familiar with the method of turning over the picture after studying it and talking about it from memory. However, for many students, this may not be the first or best way to discuss a picture; they may glean more from looking at the picture while discussing what they see.
Here are the principles to keep in mind when doing Picture Study:
1) It is the child's contact with the work of the artist that takes foremost place. The teacher must exercise discernment regarding when to explain and when to be silent.
2) Children only need to know as much of the life of the artist as necessary to enjoy the painting. The focus is the painting, not the artist. (Older students may spend more time reading about the artist.)
3) There should always be a time when students can look at the picture quietly, uninterrupted by questions or discussion.
4) There should be a chance for students to describe the painting, whether while looking at it or from memory. (As students get older, the description should be in an orderly fashion so that a listener who has never seen the painting could have a general idea of the arrangement).
5) Some kind of memory work can be added to Picture Study through an oral narration or a sketch of the painting that shows the main lines or the principle colors. In the Alveary lessons, this is done on the second week the painting is studied.
In this video, Erin Day talks about ways to cultivate an appreciation for art in your classroom and home. She shares observations about the impact that years of Picture Study has on a student's understanding of fine art.
Picture Study Immersion (12 min.)
Art Instruction & Handicrafts (14 min.)
Erin Day explains the various aspects of the Art Instruction courses, including design, brushdrawing, color theory, and observational drawing. She also discusses the key ideas undergirding the subject of handicrafts.
Reflection
Respond to the following in the comments or in your journal:
1) What was your relationship with art before implementing Mason's principles? How has that relationship changed?
2) Explain the purpose of art instruction in a Mason education.
3) What new insights did you gain from these videos and how will you implement them into your homeschool or classroom?
4) What are you wondering?
In Mason's Own Words
“We cannot measure the influence that one or another artist has upon the child’s sense of beauty, upon his power of seeing, as in a picture, the common sights of life; he is enriched more than we know in having really looked at even a single picture” (Home Education, p. 309).
“As in a worthy book we leave the author to tell his own tale, so do we trust a picture to tell its tale through the medium the artist gave it. In the region of art as elsewhere we shut out the middleman” (Philosophy of Education, p. 214-216)
“For taste is the very flower, the most delicate expression of individuality, in a person who has grown up amidst objects lovely and befitting, and has been exercised in the habit of discrimination. Here we get a hint as to what may and what may not be done by way of cultivating the aesthetic sense in young people. So far as possible, let their surroundings be brought together on a principle of natural selection, not at haphazard, and not in obedience to fashion. Bear in mind, and let them often hear discussed and see applied, the three or four general principles which fit all occasions of building, decorating, furnishing, dressing: the thing must be fit for its purpose, must harmonise with both the persons and the things about it; and, these points considered, must be as lovely as may be in form, texture, and colour; one point more––it is better to have too little than too much” (Formation of Character, p. 232).
Further Reading
Picture Study by Miss Marjorie Evans (Parents' Review Vol. 24,p. 533-537)
Great Painters by Piero Ventura (A children's book that traces the development of European art.)
Art and Faith: A Theology of Making by Makoto Fujimura
75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know by Terry Glaspey
