Trivium Pursuit’s newest curriculum is now available — What Do You See? A Child’s First Introduction to Art, Volume Two [Kindle Edition] by Laurie Bluedorn.

This 36-page ebook can be purchased on Amazon for $2.99. The pdf version will be available soon at Trivium Pursuit.

What Do You See? A Child’s First Introduction to Art, Volume Two

This curriculum is a gentle and easy introduction to art appreciation for children, ages 4-12. Our goal is to introduce children to basic concepts in learning how to look at a piece of art and evaluate it. In addition, we want to spark in the child a love for the great works of art.

Here are five benefits for your students when they study art appreciation:

1. It will stimulate them to ask questions.
2. It will cause them to try to understand why the artist painted what he did.
3. It will push them to pay attention to details the artist placed inside his painting.
4. It will make them curious and perhaps try to paint something themselves.
5. It will stimulate them to research the life of the artist and the history of the painting.

The students and teacher should spend a bit of time observing the painting and then answer the questions. Since one of our goals is to learn to love art, we recommend that you ask the child to answer the questions orally, not with pencil and paper. We want to make the learning experience enjoyable for you and the children.

This second volume will introduce only one elementary art principle — primary colors.

Some believe that the use of color is the most powerful part of a painting. With colors the artist can communicate to his audience a mood, attract attention, or make a statement. The artist can use color to make his audience feel happy or sad, angry or peaceful. All artists must learn to use color effectively.

Of course, you know that there are many, many colors in the world, but there are three colors which are called primary colors – red, yellow, and blue. These three colors are called primary colors for two reasons: 1. No two colors can be mixed to create a primary color – primary colors can only be created through the use of natural pigments; 2. All other colors can be created by mixing primary colors together.

In this volume of What Do You See? we will be studying only one aspect of color – finding the three primary colors in a painting.

Table of Contents for Volume Two

1. Le Tour Du Monde by André-Henri Dargelas
2. Teaching a Dog New Tricks by John Arthur Lomax
3. The Baptism of the Eunuch by Rembrandt
4. Arabs Crossing the Desert by Jean-Leon Gerome
5. The Blind Girl by John Everett Millais
6. The Good Turn by George Hillyard Swinstead
7. The Animals Entering the Ark by Jan Brueghel the Elder
8. The First Lesson by Louis-Emile Adan
9. Baseball Players Practicing by Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins
10. The Reading Lesson by Paul Seignac

You can also purchase of What Do You See? A Child’s First Introduction to Art, Volume One on Amazon or at Trivium Pursuit.

Table of Contents for Volume One

1. Little Red Riding Hood and Grandmother by Harriet Backer
2. The Dog Cart by Henriëtte Ronner-Knip
3. The Birthday Cake by Victor Gabriel Gilbert
4. Boy with Baby Carriage by Norman Rockwell
5. Feeding the Baby by Axel Theophilus Helsted
6. Elsie Cassatt Holding a Big Dog by Mary Cassatt
7. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by John Singer Sargent
8. Cottage Girl with Dog and Pitcher by Thomas Gainsborough
9. A Child’s Menagerie by Eastman Johnson
10. Belshazzar’s Feast by Rembrandt