Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor compensated in any other way.
AMAZING UPDATE: I just heard from Beyond the Stick Figure Art School that they have already listened to review feedback and made tweaks to the program to make it even more pleasing to customers. How cool is that! So, as you read the review we previously wrote below, please be aware that: Thank you for the review. We love to make our students happy, so here are some tweaks we have made based on recent reviews:
1. All course videos are now open and do not require sequential completion-although they still recommend people go sequentially!
2. They have contacted Vimeo and improved the video experience by installing volume control and full screen options on all videos.
3. They added more options to Drawing part 2 to help it move along more quickly for younger students.
Fantastic! <3 the way they responded and made a good thing even better!
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If you're looking for a step-by-step, incremental program to take your or yours from drawing a dot or line to creating art, the Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course PLUS 3 Bonus Courses from Beyond the Stick Figure Art School could be it.
Sally, the creator of the program, is a homeschool mom and artist who attained a degree in art from the Loughborough College of Art and Design in England. Disappointed with an art program that she placed her daughter in, she decided to create one herself and came up with this step by incremental step one that walks families through 55 drawing lessons and then tags on 15 pen-and-ink lessons, 52 watercolor ones, 24 Acrylic ones, and 30 3D Design ones using short video lessons and downloadable printables which guarantee success.
Over the past six weeks or so, my family has had the opportunity to review this course, which is meant to be completed as a one year program of short, consecutive, daily, lessons enjoyed by the whole family.
Geared for busy homeschoolers, the course is created so that all a homeschool parent has to do is take out art supplies, log on, and click the next lesson, sitting down to join if as desired.
No art experience is needed. Just watch and follow along - seeing your skills and your children's grow baby step by baby step!
Lessons begin super simply - at a level young and inexperienced artists can follow along with - and move in incremental steps to more advanced techniques, which are unlocked as you complete each lesson.
The teacher, Sally, is genuine, skilled, clear, and easy to follow, but a bit quiet at times.
Along the way, video lessons teach hands-on exercises that incorporate practical tips, a bit of color theory, art terms, and more.
Because you get a lifetime membership good for everyone in one household - including mom, dad, kids, even live-in grandparents! - you can do the lessons all together daily as suggested or stretch things out by doing art only once or twice a week. You can also have one part of the family complete the course first and, then, go back so another part of the family can try. Such flexibility is wonderful for busy or large families.
One thing in the program is not flexible at this time, however, and that is the order in which lessons are done. The program is set in a consecutive mode which does not let you skip ahead until you have viewed and clicked "complete" on each lesson. This means that if you have more advanced artists in the house, you should be aware that you'll have to either complete each lesson in order or sit and click through videos as if you had in order to reach more advanced lessons.
While this feature of having lessons "locked" until prior lessons are viewed/completed ensures that you and your children can learn step by step and never get in over your head artistically, it can also cause frustration. Or so it did here.When my daughter and I tried to look ahead at later drawing lessons, we could not. When we tried to take a break from drawing to dabble in the pen-and-ink, watercolor, acrylic, and 3D design lessons, which we were excited to check out, we could not.
We were met with a message that said, "Please go back and complete the previous lesson." That meant we either had to simply progress from one tiny incremental lesson to another in order or spent time clicking through the videos of ordered lessons and hitting complete just so we could get to later ones. Doing that seemed disingenuous and like a waste of time, so we simply plodded along, appreciating the earlier lessons for what they were, but wishing the program allowed freer access to all lessons.
In the early lessons, my daughter and I enjoyed the sometimes hypnotic effect of drawing and coloring shapes, lines, etc.
We also appreciated some of the tips the teacher gave in lessons that we opted to watch but, admittedly, just watched some videos instead of completing the projects they showed since we found the incremental exercises sometimes a bit too repetitive, even if we understood that they were building observational skills and muscle memory (much like that of a child practicing stokes to learn to write.)
When I asked my 12-year-old what she thought of the program, she said:
It is a series of short video lessons that start extraordinarily basic and progress step-by-step with circles, curved lines straight lines... color, negative space, primary colors, secondary colors... and you cannot skip!
You have to view each video to its end and click complete or you cannot go on.
Now, I like the program. I just do not like that part. I would prefer if I was allowed to skip. This is not my first art ever. I have done art before, and I found it annoying not to be able to move onto more advanced lessons, which I think is reasonable for me to want.
So, I would like to see there be a way to skip and a picture preview and short list of what is covered in each video lesson, so I would know if I want to do it and would benefit from it.
Granted, I liked how the woman taught lessons and got addicted to drawing and coloring circles, I just did not want to waste time doing a bunch of lessons on circles, lines, negative space,...
I will probably continue using the program as side practice work sometimes, not as my primary art work. I may use it more if I am able to easily skip to more advanced lessons.
I want to try to pen and ink, watercolor, and acrylic, but I don't want to have to skip through all the rest to do them.
I would recommend this program to people who are just starting art or want an art practice.
The best parts about it are:
- the way she teaches
- the way she reminds you to take care of your supplies (put you cap on your marker)
- some of her practical tips
I think you know the one thing I'd like to see changed: being able to advance to what you think you are capable of or want to try. If you cannot do it, you can always go back. Lessons should not be locked. You should be able to access any lesson at any time.
I would recommend this program to people who are just starting art or want an art practice.
I agree with her assessment. We both enjoyed the teacher's style, technique, and tips and appreciated the relative brevity of lessons which made them easy to fit into busy days. However, we both also wished the course was delivered in a way where its consecutive order was suggested, not required, so that we could move forward and backward in lessons freely.
Further, we both thought a great addition to each lesson page would be an image or two of what the lesson presented and a short list of key skills, art theory, terms, etc. included in the lesson. Such changes and additions would make the well-presented and effective program that truly seems to be able to take one from drawing stick figures to confidently creating more advanced art a program that is a better fit for families like mine that already have some basic art experience, but want to advance in skill without having to start at the very beginning.
Of course, this is just our take on the program. Eighty Homeschool Review Crew families tested it out, and other families have different takeaways. Click through to find all the blog, vlog, and social media reviews.
