Creating a Masterpiece is a Homeschool Fine Arts curriculum that offers lessons for projects you want to hang, long term on the walls of your home. No childish or juvenile projects that will be stuffed in a box and forgotten about. Over the last month or so, our family has been blessed to work through several of the Level One DVDs from Creating a Masterpiece.
This is a fine arts program designed for school age students - not to be confused with making crafts or simplistic art projects
Level One DVD Set ($179 or $35 each) includes:
- Sunflower Pencil Drawing
- Rainbow Butterfly Silk Painting
- Caribbean Lighthouse Acrylic Painting
- The Turtle Sculpting
- Tropical Clownfish Colored Pencils
- Peaceful Lake Soft Pastels
This set of DVDs contains 24 or more individual lessons contained in six DVDs. Each lesson sets forth sequential steps to complete the art project; each lesson’s instructions may take up to an hour for the student to complete.
If you are like me, you have been looking for a fine arts curriculum for your homeschool that is not childish, that helps students learn the fine tuned skills to creating something you WANT to have hanging on your walls long term. Creating a Masterpiece is a great option for you.
Creating a Masterpiece offers
Fine arts DVDs for several different art mediums ranging from pencil drawing and colored pencils, soft pastels and acrylic painting, to sculpting, and silk painting, with several options in between.
One of the best things about the website is the page that shows you how to find all the supplies for each project in one place. This made is super easy to get what we needed.
Lessons in Pencil Drawing
We started with the Lessons in Pencil Drawing Sunflower DVD. There are seven lessons in this DVD. Though I figured this would be a good DVD to start with, my children really struggled with their sunflower drawings. I believe they had their minds wrapped around perfection. I love the step by step instructions. Each part of the drawing is carefully explained. The students are able to pause the DVD, as needed, so they can work on their drawing before moving onto the next step. As they work through the Sunflower Drawing, Sharon is also working on the drawing step-by-step showing the students how to complete each step. This makes it really nice for the students to see, hear and do, utilizing multiple learning styles with one curriculum, which is great for our family with multiple special needs. As good as her step-by-step instructions were, my children really struggled with this project.
Tropical Clown Fish with Colored Pencils
Our next DVD was the Tropical Clown Fish with Colored Pencils. For my children, this project went much better. They loved seeing a nice ending to their work. Sharon takes the children from the beginning drawing steps all the way through the final shading and coloring to bring shape, depth and life to their Clown Fish drawings. Please note, you will be sharpening pencils like crazy as they do push hard to make the project look like a drawing.
I decided to go off on my own and do a clown fish, and did it in pastels. It turned out really nice. We didn’t have enough pencils to go around, so I decided to try it with pastels. I am happy with the results.
Peaceful Lake, Lessons in Pastel
Our third DVD was Peaceful Lake, Lessons in Pastel. These drawing from my children were amazing. They had a ton of fun with them, and we are so excited to try some more pastel drawings. Again, Sharon does an amazing job going through the step-by-step process of creating a Peaceful Lake pastel drawing. From sketching the layout, to adding color, and shading for depth. She explains various ways to set the project so smearing won’t happen.
Caribbean Lighthouse Acrylic Painting
We are currently in the middle of our fourth DVD, Caribbean Lighthouse Acrylic Painting. Because of the price of canvas, we decided to do a “rough draft” on paper. I can tell you now, that typing paper is not the rough draft paper of choice. Next time we will try card stock.
We have not done the last two DVDs yet. We have had a couple of time consuming unexpected interruptions, such as taking on a bucket calf and a couple of health things, our schedule got mixed up and we didn’t get to it before I needed to get this review up. However, watching the first lesson of each, they are very much like the first four, in that Sharon takes you through each project step-by-step, working through the project with you. As I said previously, this is super helpful for the family with multiple learning styles. It is helpful for anyone really, as we all learn best by experiencing things through more than one of our five senses.
Rainbow Butterfly Silk Painting
My children are extremely eager to do the Rainbow Butterfly Silk Painting. This looks to be a ton of fun, and quite a mess, which makes it all the more fun, right? What a great art project as we head into spring.
Thr Turtle Scupting
My turtle loving five year old has the The Turtle Sculpting DVD sitting on his projects I want to do with Mommy shelf. That is another great bonus to these DVDs, they offer hands on project for you to do with your children, and something that isn’t something childish that will end up in a trunk. These DVDs instill the foundational skills to build great masterpieces that your children will be begging to work through something on their own in no time. I have visions of art being handed to me on Mother’s Day!
What I Would Like to Change
I would like to see with these DVDs, is an order in which they should be completed, when purchased as a set. I figured the Sunflower Pencil Drawing would be first, but after doing a couple of the DVDs, I believe that may not be the proper order. I looked on the website and DVDs and never did see a suggested order of use.
Tips for Using Creating a Masterpiece
When using Creating a Masterpiece with several children, I recommend playing the DVDs on a laptop, so you can have your children at a large table drawing. I figured this out around the third DVD.
Creating a Masterpiece is a fine arts curriculum for the homeschool family. With five levels of difficulty, really you could spend years working through the various projects they offer. You can’t go to an fine arts class for your whole family for $35, however, you can bring it home and enjoy it time after time.
Disclosure: I was compensated for this review. All statements are my honest opinion.
One of my readers will get to pick out a DVD of their choice from the level one set. To enter follow the link below and follow the directions there.
mother, christian, wife, woman, child of God. It is about my life as a farmer’s wife, as a cook, a baker, a nurse, a teacher, a woodworker, a housekeeper, a farmer (yep, I drive tractors, pick up hay bales, and other farm duties), a gardener. So, what you read here, is me, as a transparent sometimes hot headed, passionate, and opinionated person.
I like all of them but I would pick the Tropical Clown Fish with Colored Pencils.
I would choose the tropical clown fish … looks like a fun place to start and something my girls would love. Thanks for the chance to win!
I’d love to do this with my son! We’d choose the Clown Fish DVD!
My kids love to draw! I think the clown fish one is really cute!
I love the Pastels! I would choose the peaceful lake. Too fun!
I’ve been planning to get this for my children for next year…we can’t wait to start it! I know they will love it all.
I have been looking into this for next year and can’t wait to try it!
I love the clownfish one!
Given what all we have tried before I would love to try the pastel DVD. It looks like a nice peaceful picture.
God bless
Heather
I would choose Peaceful Lake.
Lessons in Pastel: Peaceful Lake is the one I think I would choose to start with, but I might let my girls pick!
Best review EVER! And my kids would love the clown fish DVD!
I have to agree with Betty in her post about the CAM art dvds. I have used 9 of these so far and have my eye on the rest of the set from the Great Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati next weekend (Apr 4-6). My 4 children and I have all enjoyed doing these and have been blessed to be able to learn various medium without having to leave home. We watched the day’s lesson all the way through and then go back with a portable dvd player at our side and go through the dvd slowly. I have found that at times I would have to go through the lesson at a slower pace with my youngest but I’ve been amazed at her ability to create a masterpiece, when I have done this. I love these and am looking forward to seeing what Sharon has to share with us in the coming years.
I would choose the colored pencils DVD because we always have lots of those around.
I saw these at the Great Homeschool Convention in Greenville, SC! They are awesome!! I think any of them would be great to have!
Amy
I have such lovely little artists, it would be hard to choose, but I think the lesson on pastels would be a hit!
Love them all, so hard to pick one. Probably do the pencil sketching first as that has been what my husband has always drawn in and I would love to see the kids and him doing this together.
I would like to try the painting dvds. My son has done a lot with pencil drawing, and we need to branch out.
This looks engaging for the teacher and student!! Wow!!
I like the Peaceful Lake, Lessons in Pastel.
Would love these for my 5 children.
I’m interested in all of them!! Definitely the pencil drawing one!!
The Peaceful Lake! Peaceful Lake! It is so pretty! And I think it would be pretty awesome! Thank you for a great giveaway!
Tropical Clown Fish with Colored Pencils
I would choose lesson in pastels.
Tropical Clown Fish
Id love to win the DVD on pastels.
The turtle sculpting. My 8 year old loves turtles.
Lessons in Pencil: Sunflower
The Peaceful Lake Pastel…. lovely!
I would love any of the DVD’s This looks like a wonderful art program.
The pastel lessons look amazing!
Turtle Sculpture looks so cool!
My six year old has declared that she will be an artist. She is always drawing pictures for us. She would love this!
I would LOVE to get my kids more involved with fine arts but find I’m always lacking time. Five kids and five different grade levels always seem to force me to leave some subjects out (not on purpose!)
We did these videos as a family. I sat everyone down at our dining room table, and then played the DVD on a laptop. 😉 We normally struggle with the no time for art, but this worked well.
My son loves art but I am challenged. I would love to win a DVD to help teach him.
My kids love sketching and shadowing, we would want to start with the 1st DVD and work our way through the set! Thank you for the chance!
I would probably chose the tropical clownfish with pencil crayons or the pencil drawing one. I have older kids and this seems to be right up their alley. I don’t know,though, this is a hard choice!!! They all look wonderful.
My daughter, who is quite passionate about art, would love this set.
I would probably choose the clown fish one. Looks like something my kids would enjoy!
It would be Caribbean Lighthouse! My son’s bent is in the arts (he is deaf) and he loves to express himself through drawings and paintings.
the sunflower - because I love sunflowers!
i would choose the pastel set
I would choose the colored pencils DVD. My youngest daughter just said, Nemo!
You all did an amazing job! Loved looking at all of your art!
I would like the entire set! My daughter is an amazing artist but she needs a good teacher. We will be moving soon to another state and I don’t know if we could find one there. This set would enable her to continue lessons without one!