I have a son who is always drawing and doodling. Creating a Masterpiece has a Drawing Program that I thought would be a good fit for my son and giving him a foundation in art instruction.

I received a one-year subscription to the online Drawing Program. It has four levels starting with a Beginning Drawing, Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. The creator Sharon Hofer plans on adding more projects and levels to this program later.

For many years I looked at the Creating a Masterpiece booth when I seen them at our local homeschool convention. I seen such masterpieces displayed there and thought those kids are the exception and just have a talent for art. As my kids got older they attended the convention with me. The first booth that captured their imagination was Creating a Masterpiece! They quickly signed up to do a lesson that day. I knew how wrong I was seeing what my kids created that day. We also had the pleasure of reviewing Creating a Masterpiece awhile back and I was very pleased with the program.

Creating a Masterpiece Drawing Program is the newest edition. If you want more than just drawing they have other programs that introduce you to different median from acrylic paints, pastels, watercolors and so much more.

Drawing Program has 30 lessons; each lesson can be used at 1 per week or more. The lessons are broken up nicely for you to schedule them for several days depending on the project. A few of the lessons my son did in a little over an hour. It’s nice to have an option as its very flexible to fit anyone’s schedule.

Below you can see that there are a nice variety of projects to work on in each of the levels.

Beginning Drawing has 8 lessons, Level 1 ~ 7 lessons, Level 2~6 lessons, and Level 3~8 lessons. The techniques and the drawings advance to create some beautiful and challenging drawings.

The Drawing program uses drawing pencils, charcoal, standard pencils, colored pencils and a variety of erasers. You will also need a few other supplies like tortillon, drawing paper, black artagain paper, vellum paper, ruler, and a few other supplies.

 

Once you have logged into your account you will click on the Project tab at the top of the page. You scroll down until you come to the Drawing Program. You will see your access to the projects. The portion of the program you don’t have will have a locked padlock symbol on it.

Each level is broken up for you. My son started out in the Beginning Level and he focused on one lesson a week. Depending on his school schedule he usually finished a lesson within a couple of days easily. 

To access a project you just click on it. From there you will see a Project Description that tells you about the project and a photo of the completed project. 

You also will be able to see what supplies you will need to complete that project. You have an option to click on a link to purchase the supplies online or you can pick up the supplies at your local hobby store.

To enter the videos you click on Lessons. From there you have your videos. Each lesson varies with how many videos there are. They are broken down in bit size step by step instructions. The videos aren’t very long and vary in length from a few minutes up to ten minutes.

You have the ability to stop the lessons and to play it back if you missed a step. My son would stop the lessons to complete a step and sometimes clean it up some. Sometimes he didn’t like his last step and would work on perfecting it. 

Lessons in Pencils: Simplicity from Beginning Drawing he had to work on lines and shading. He ended up doing this lesson twice because he wanted to improve on his first one. 

My son found that the hardest thing for him to do was to draw his lines lightly. Even with shading he found he need to work on how much pressure to put on his pencil and that he really needed to pay attention to the small details like the numbers on his drawing pencils for the lessons. It made for shading, blending and erasing so much easier when learning about it. My son likes to rush from point A to point B quickly. He found out quickly that rushing doesn’t give you the best results on the project. With the help of a qualified art teacher teaching this course he is doing better with blending and lightning up his lines while drawing.

Lessons in Pencil: Giraffe Cartoon from Beginning Drawing my son added a few things like the hat and the drool. He actually drew this giraffe several times and did it a few times without the video.

Lessons in Pencil: Hoot Owl

The video lessons do a wonderful step by step instructions on completing each drawing.  

 Lessons in Pencil: Hoot Owl and Lessons in Charcoal: Baby Elephant are both in Beginning Drawing also worked on shading and making it look like there is texture. Charcoal wasn't his favorite median but admitted he just needed more practice. He did the elephant a few times because he wanted to improve on the portions.

Lessons in Pencil: Drawing the egg from Drawing level 1. I was impressed with how well he got the shape of the egg on his first try. He didn't like how the shape of the shadow of the egg came out. I thought it looked pretty good. 

My 16 year old daughter with special needs did Lessons in Charcoal: Field of Daisies. She wasn't able to complete it as her arthritis started flaring up. She was happy with her results.

My 13 year old will continue working our way through the lessons. I plan on joining him too to see if I can learn how to draw. This is a wonderful program! 

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I am 1 of 70 members of the Homeschool Review Crew reviewing; Creating a Masterpiece and their Drawing Program. Click on the banner below to see what others think and to see some amazing master pieces with the online art program.

For several years at our homeschool convention  Creating a Masterpiece  has been a vendor at our local convention. I have definitely looked at it several times. Art is just one of those subjects that I shy away from even though we all love art. I was really excited when Creating a Masterpiece came up for a review. I received the Monthly Plan for 6 months to all the levels.

 This is an extraordinary online art program that teaches art step by step. I don’t have to worry about my lack of ability teaching art. I have no excuse as I don't have to teach it myself and I can participate in creating my own masterpieces. I even have a lot of art supplies on hand.

All I need to do is have access to the internet. All the lessons are taught for you. There is a variety of projects and mediums for everyone. Creating a Masterpiece recommends that you use higher quality materials  for the projects. There is a link provided to an art supplier for the individual materials needed to complete the project. 

There are lessons for all age’s children and even children as young as 4 and 5 can create some amazing art masterpieces with this program. All of the lessons are taught by a master artist Sharon Hofer. She does a wonderful job introducing new mediums and even shares some of her techniques with her students. Currently, they have over 144 projects throughout all the levels and more are being added.

There are several levels available. Most of the Levels are broken up in smaller segments from 3 to 7 videos. The average lessons vary in time depending on project or even the child. Sharon recommends you not to rush to get the best results. The first 4 levels will average in time to 45 minutes to 1 ½ to complete a project. While the other levels can be a little more time wise. Most projects can be completed in a week or less.

I would recommend that you read the tips that are provided for each lesson prior to each lesson. Plan ahead in advance so you can order all the materials prior to starting a lesson. I planned for a few weeks in advance. I checked my supplies and ordered a few items I was low on or didn’t have. I was ready to go when we started the project. Plan to get messy especially for younger children with certain mediums. 

Beginners Level: 

The lessons are shorter. Sharon goes over some basic foundational art techniques. There is a plethora of art media introduced from watercolors, oil pastels, gouache, charcoal, an ink. The lessons are broken down in several lessons for beginners and younger children. 

Level 1:

In the art gallery online there are some amazing projects done with kids as young as 4 in this level. I guess I have no excuse being able to do art myself. The foundations of soft pastels, pencil drawings, silk dying, acrylic painting, earthenware sculpture, and colored pencils are covered.  

Level 2:

This level is for a student who has some art instruction. It will go over some of the mediums taught in the other levels and incorporate new mediums into the program. Some of the new instruction in this level will teach block printing, basic glass mosaic, stippling in ink, acrylics, sculptures, and soft pastels.  

Level 3:

More advanced skill levels with glass mosaic, three dimensional acrylic painting, silk painting. This will build upon previous learned techniques in more advanced masterpieces.  

Level 4:

Color theory is taught at a more advanced level. Watercolor pencils, learning to work with copper, oil pastels, a new way of working with silk dyes.

Level 5:

This level is intended for students looking to fine tune your artistic ability. One of drawing concepts works on the fine details of distinguish some differnences in the gender and age of a person’s face while sketching it. Carving with foam and making it look like wood. More ink, watercolor techniques are taught. A new medium with Conte’ Crayons is taught. Lessons are broken up in smaller portions with an average up to 1 ½.

Art in History:

This is the newest addition to Creating a Masterpiece. This is a hands-on-approach to learning about the life of artist and the era that they lived in. You will create your own masterpiece of the era in history. More projects will be added in this level. The projects will vary in skill level. Some students 6-9 will be able to complete some of the projects. Older students will be able to do all the projects.

How Did I Use Creating a Masterpiece in My Homeschool?

I have to say that this is an amazing art instruction program. I have enjoyed doing these projects myself with both of my kids. My daughter had difficulties with some of the projects due to her disabilities and her arthritis has been attacking her hands and wrist recently. She did what she could and enjoyed getting her hands dirty.

We have done most of our projects in the Beginning Level, Level 1, Level 2, and one in Level 3. This has been so much fun and all of us have learned so much with art and have explored mediums that we haven’t used a lot. 

Little Man created this using one of his photos he took for photography.

My son liked to go outside of the projects and add his own touch to the projects. One project was in the Beginners Level- Lessons in Watercolor: African Sunset. He liked the blowing in the straw effect to make the trees. He had a photo that he had taken in photography of a sunset with trees looking like a silhouette. He copied his photo to make the project. I was impressed with how it came out. Now, I just need to convince him to work with pastels again. He had someone when he was much younger use pastels on his face. Let's just say it didn't come out easily. It was an extreme art masterpiece that left his face stained for awhile. I think he would really enjoy working with pastels. I plan on doing a project myself with it and maybe he will decide that he likes pastels again.

I plan on continue using this in our homeschool and next time at the convention I won’t shy away from it to add to my homeschool budget. This is really worth it. It’s a top notch online art program.

Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew have been reviewing this. Stop by and see what masterpieces they have created.

 

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I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

Teaching art in your homeschool can be challenging especially if you aren’t artistic as a parent. Whether you have a child who is in elementary, middle school, or high school Creating A Masterpiece will guide you and your student through the process of offering a complete Art History Program.

Subscription is available at a monthly and annual plan.  There is something for all ages from 4 and up. You will need to access the lessons online.

This online video instruction is taught by Master Artist Sharon Hofer. She will teach you techniques and skills using different mediums in the comfort of your own home. This can be used at your own pace and many kids can use this independently. Beware as you might want to join your kids in the projects. 

Sharon Hofer recommends using high-quality art supplies. Every lesson has a list of the supplies. You can also purchase the supplies with a link to the brand she recommends.

There are also notes that will have suggestions or recommendations. 

 Color swatches to see the colors are provided in projects. You will also see paper type, tips, or alternatives. 

Also, you can see a photo of the completed project, some of them show the projects in various stages of the project.

The lessons have several videos within the individual lessons. You can have anywhere from 3 and up to 7 videos. The video lessons are broken down into smaller portions to be completed. This will allow time for projects to dry and to step away to refresh yourself.  

All the lessons are broken down in step-by-step instructions. You can pause at anytime throughout the videos. Techniques are taught using the material and on making your project look like a masterpiece.

 

You can look at the level or by the mediums. The mediums choices are on the left side of the screen. If you want to work with watercolor pencils or pastels you can click on it and it will show you all the projects that use that particular medium. It also breaks down each one showing all the projects sorted out by the medium. This is a nice feature if you don’t have certain art supplies on hand. Here are different materials used: Acrylic, Balsa Carving, Batik, Block Printing, Colored Markers, Colored Pencils, Conte’ Crayons, Copper Tooling, Faux Metal Working, Faux  Stained Glass, Glass Etching, Glass Mosaic,  Gouache, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil Painting, Oil Pastels, Pencil/Charcoal, Print Making, Sculptures, Silk Painting, Soft Pastel, Watercolor, Watercolor Pencils, and Wood Burning.

Within each level, you will have a mixture of materials used. Unless it’s a  specific level like drawing. The Core levels add in more techniques and get harder with the projects. The Styles of Art in History-5 and up, Historically Themed Projects-6 and up, Exploring the Art of Yesterday-13 and up, and the Capstone level is the most difficult and advanced. Most of the projects can be completed in a week or less.

The levels are broken down by:

Core Beginners Level

Core Level 1 - 5

Beginning Drawing 1 & 2

Beginning Drawing 2

Drawing Level 1-6

Styles of Art in History

Historically Themed Projects

Exploring the Art of Yesterday

Capstone Program

Take advantage of the tips that are provided for each lesson before each lesson. That way you are ready to go. You can also make sure you have your art supplies on hand and can order everything you need before starting. I like to plan for a few weeks in advance before starting. This time around I had all the supplies needed to begin.  

My son needs art as an elective for high school. You can easily make this 1 credit using the projects and adding some art history from books with this. You can learn about artist and their styles and different art eras for this to be applicable for a high school credit.. We will add more when he starts school at the beginning of the year. He enjoys art and likes to dabble in several styles of art. Especially drawing as he enjoys drawing by hand, using his drawing tablet, and creating maps by hand.

His main focus was on the drawing levels. He did a few other things with watercolor pencils, pastels, and one lesson in the Historically Themed Projects. He worked on one or two projects a week. Some projects he wants to redo. Like the pheasant above. He wasn't happy with the main body shape and he felt like he was a bit sloppy. The mushroom he thinks the head should be a little bigger and the stem a bit shorter. I like that he wants to work on details until he is satisfied with the final results. My son said, "I like the pace of the videos and Sharon explains the steps easily" and "that the lessons get progressively more challenging". 

There is something for all ages with Creating A Masterpiece. The price includes your whole immediate family. You can go over lessons as many times as you want during your subscription period.  This is a top-notch online art program. Go create your own masterpiece with Creating A Masterpiece and their Art History Program.

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Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew have been reviewing this. Stop by and see what masterpieces they have created.