Explore and Draw Video Series: Module 1 – Color and Form
for children ages 7 – 14*
Our “Explore and Draw Series” will cover the basic skills of painting and drawing nature, formatted especially for young learners. Each week, we will forage and draw from what we find. Subjects can be collected outside in nature or obtained from fresh produce in your home, your garden, from the grocery store, or a local farmer’s market.
During these challenging times when children are learning from home, we hope these lessons will bring nature inside, but also bring young people outside with newly opened eyes to discover and draw their surroundings. As we learn about nature, we will be painting, drawing, and creating our own unique world within our artwork.
Follow along with your very own Explore and Draw Art Supply Kit.
Module Format: 4 Video Lessons, about 1 hour each, are delivered via email once a week for 4 weeks. The videos may be watched and rewatched an unlimited number of times.
Participants can paint and draw while watching or pause the video to work on the lesson independently.
We encourage collaboration and invite all participants to upload images of their artwork each week to a dedicated page on our website, along with the first name and age of each artist.
Please be sure to add firstname.lastname@example.org to your email contacts so that you do not miss correspondence from us!
*children ages 3-6 may join with adult supervision; children 14+ also welcome
Module 1: Color and Form
Lesson 1 – Color
Explore Color with Watercolor: Learn the basics of color theory, paint a rainbow and a color wheel, and mix colors to match natural subjects like tomatoes.
Lesson 2 – Light and dark
Learn to see tone variation from light to dark using a Dark Sepia colored pencil and watercolor.
Lesson 3 – Light on Form
Apply tone to 3-dimensional forms. Draw simple geometric shapes and paint them in tones and colors with one strong light source.
Lesson 4 – Put it all together using natural specimens
Tell a story with your drawing. Plan a composition and draw and paint a group of fruits or vegetables.
View A Sneak Peek of Module 1!