Homeschool Crew Review: ARTistic Pursuits Inc. Art of the Ancients K-3 Vol 2

We have used many books from ARTistic Pursuits Inc. in our homeschool. The instruction found in their books is thorough yet easy for homeschoolers to teach even if they do not have a lot of experience with art.  Last year we had an opportunity to review their brand new series of books that include video instruction and we were very excited to have a chance to review another book from the K-3rd Grade Level, Volumes 1-8  series this year, Art of the Ancients, K-3 Vol. 2.

 The new books with video lessons in the  K-3rd Grade Level, Volumes 1-8 series will replace the 2013 editions that only used a book. Each volume has 18 lessons, 12 of which are text lessons and 6 are video lessons. Each book is 64 pages and is designed to be completed in a semester.  The 8 books in the series move chronologically though history after Vol 1, Building a Visual Vocabulary.  This series will cover 4 years of art for grades K-3.  Each volume comes with a hardcover text, DVD, and Blu-ray discs.  Books in the series include:

Vol. 1 Building a Visual Vocabulary
Vol. 2 Art of the Ancients
Vol. 3 Art of the Middle Ages
Vol. 4 Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance
Vol. 5 Art of the Northern Countries, Renaissance to Realism
Vol. 6 Art of the Impressionists
Vol .7 Art of the Modern Age
Vol. 8 Art in America

You do not have to complete the books in order.  The first volume is recommended to be used first for very young students or first time users.  Each book costs $39.99.  In addition to the curriculum, ARTistic Pursuits also sells Art Supply Packs for each of the volumes if you prefer to buy your book and art supplies together.

Art of the Ancients begins with a list of materials needed to complete the projects in the book.  There are specific art supplies you will need such as hard or soft pastels, self  hardening clay, oil pastels, watercolor crayons, construction paper, glue, watercolor brushes, and a few others.  You will also need some household supplies such as paper towels, masking tape, hairspray, rolling pin, plastic knife, and more.  You can purchase your supplies wherever it is convenient but you should buy a good quality of art supplies because it does make a difference in the art you create.

In each lesson there are prep notes for the lessons for the teacher to read through along with a page or two for the teacher to read to the student.  Colorful works of art are included in the lesson part along with some questions to ask the students about the artwork.  There are 6 video lessons that give step by step instructions for making the artwork.  For the lessons that do not have a video lesson there are instructions in the book and an example of artwork that was made by a child.  Lessons in Art of the Ancients Include:


Soft Pastels
Art in Caves
Clay: Slab Building
Art Underground
Art in Minoan Palaces
Art in Pyramids
Art in Egyptian Palaces
Art on City Walls
Art on Temples
Clay: Pinch Method
Clay: Pinch Pot
Art in Tombs
Clay: Animal Figure Sculpture
Art on Roadsides
Art on Mummies
Paper Mosaic
Art Preserved in Ash
Art in Catacombs


I have been using Art of the Ancients with my 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th graders.  We chose this books because we are studying Ancient History right now and I knew this would be the perfect book to go along with our lessons.  We have been completing one lesson per week.  The length of time we have spent on a lesson has varied depending on the child and the project.  In the five weeks we have had the book we have completed 5 projects: 3 have used pastels and the children finished in around 30 minutes, and 2 were clay which took a bit longer to work on and if they wanted to add color needed to wait a day or so until the clay dried.


Our first project was a video lesson that taught about Soft Pastels.  They had to create a drawing of something with wheels.

Our second project was on cave paintings and our project was to make a cave picture using soft pastels.

Lesson 3 was another video lesson about Slab Building.  Then they created their own clay slab figures.

After the clay dried they used water color crayons to add some color.

For Lesson 4 we created a clay figure.

Lesson 5 was on Art in Minoan Palaces and we used pastels to create an animal painting using soft pastels.

I LOVE this new series from ARTistic Pursuits!  The books are thin, sturdy, and have beautiful artwork and instructions.  We love the video lessons.  The instruction in the ARTistic Pursuits books has always been excellent but some things are much easier if you can see it being done step by step.  I also love that they include DVD or Blu-ray so you can choose which one you would like to use and the price for all three is very affordable. I love the art work that is included in the books and that they show children's art work as examples in the lessons.  I love that the series moves chronologically through history.  It has been really fun for the children to be able to create artwork about something we have just read about in history.  We did a lesson on the Minoans that talked about the sport of bull jumping and a wall painting Bull Jumping from 1500 BC was in Lesson 5.

Even though the age range on the books is for early elementary, older children can participate in the lessons.   I cannot wait to see though if ARTistic Pursuits will release updated books with video instruction for their older books as well.


Members of The Crew reviewed all 8 books in the K-3rd Grade Level, Volumes 1-8 series.  To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!