What are some art projects for a homeschooler?

Question

My daughter is 14 and she has a better imagination than me by far. I need some ideas for art projects she can do. Or creative things to do for fun during the day.

Answer 1

I'm 16 and homeschooled and the art projects I like to do are the ones that I can do over a period of time.

You can try a paint by numbers. No..not the little kids paint by numbers! They actually make really detailed paint by numbers that are for teens/adults. Check at a craft supply store..they should have a lot to choose from.

My favorite thing to do is make things out of clay. Craft stores sell books with tons of projects that you can do out of clay and they teach you how to do them step by step. You could use colored clay or if you want the project to take longer you could use white and then paint it.

Maybe she would like something like scrapbooking. That can be alot of fun and she can show off her work when she's done.

My best advice would be to walk around a craft store for awhile. They have tons of kits and project books you could look through.

Answer 2

What are her skills like.

You can buy those As Seen On TV Art courses in a box that come with samples and all materials.

You can buy or make a turntable and work with clay.

Animation Director Chuck Jones (Roadrunner) was drawing in a sketch book since he was a kid and he showed one of hi sketch books to an art college and they accepted him just based on those pencil drawings.

It depends on your skill levels and how much you work at it.

As a kid Jones used to watch, for example, this cat outside eating a grapefruit and drew pictures, sketches of it in various modes of consumption, including when the head was engulfed by the whole grapefruit skin.

At Harvard University animator Caroline LEaf put sand on a ground glass lighted box and manipulated it with tools to draw Peter and the Wolf.

At the NFBC she did a film using finger paints on glass and it won an Academy award as best short film (The STreet).

John Hubley shook the animation art world with "Adventures of an *" in which he drew an * on a clear cell and animated it's adventures among a world made by putting wax on paper and then splashing waters color paints over the wax and letting it dry.

A friend of mine had a grant to teach art and painting at the Parks and Recreations department once a week, see if you can find one of those courses.

Answer 3

Here are two places that have some good ones to give you some ideas

http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/a...

http://members.aol.com/mrsspyboy/freeart...

http://members.aol.com/mrsspyboy/index.h...

Answer 4

I would not do short term projects because it can run into soo much money.  I would buy a cheap set of paints and an easel and let her start an oil painting, or start a sketch pad with charcoal or colored pencils.  .  my 14 year old daughter worked on an oil painting every Saturday for 6 weeks.  

You can go on youtube and watch lessons on drawing, painting, etc... I am not much of a teacher, but they can watch the lesson there.

Answer 5

I have a daughter who is graduating from college soon  (thank you God) with her degree in fine arts .  

Ideas would depend upon the type of art in which your daughter shows interest.  Don't limit her to two dimensional efforts.  Remember there is sculpture, glass blowing, fibers (weaving, dying, etc.)  metals, handmade papers, etc.  Try to hook her up with the art dept of a local university.  Frequently they will have classes, taught by students, and the kids will be exposed to projects they might not have otherwise attempted.

Of course, if it is sketching and painting she is passionate about, nurture that skill.  You may want to research art of the period or geographical area you are studying in history and do projects inspired by those.  Ex.  mosaics, triptychs, masks.

To be really honest, my daughter was an artist from day one.  All we did was supply materials and let her go!  Provide lots and lots of inspiration and enjoy watching her create.