Review: Learn to Paint in Acrylics
Today I’m sharing my review of the Learn to Paint in Acrylics kit from Timberdoodle. My girls really enjoyed working on a few projects from this kit when Laura was home last summer, and Rebecca has returned to it multiple times this past winter.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary art set for review from Timberdoodle. All views expressed are my own.
What’s Included
This learn-to-paint kit includes a set of 24 tubes of acrylic paint, a package of four artist brushes of various sizes, three pads (10 sheets each) of heavy 6″x6″ art paper…
…and a step-by-step instruction book: Learn to Paint in Acrylics with 50 More Small Paintings.
According to Timberdoodle: “Many of the images can be done in about an hour with subject matter that is designed to appeal to a large audience.” We found that to be true.
Getting Started
The first project is a red door, which teaches basic paint application. The first step is to paint the “canvas” white, which seems a little redundant since the paper is already white, but of course, a painted surface does look different than an unpainted surface.
Each step was very simple but the techniques of mixing in glazing medium and adding shadows at appropriate places made the finished paintings look more professional than we expected.
Moving On
The next project was another simple shape, an envelope. The techniques the girls learned in this lesson included mixing tints and shades.
It was interesting to me to see how the shading differed from Laura’s painting to Rebecca’s. This painting exercise called for 3 colors of paint: red, white, and black–but mixed in different ways.
The girls continued on through the book for several more lessons. They enjoyed displaying their paintings on little easels, replacing them with the next one as it was completed.
My Thoughts
I appreciate how compact this kit is. The tiny “canvases” are perfect for experimenting with various techniques and having a fun little painting in a short amount of time. For students who really get into it you could pick up larger canvas boards at a local store. It wouldn’t be hard to enlarge and expand on the assignments in the book to create unique paintings.
Timberdoodle includes the Learn to Paint in Acrylics Kit in their 10th grade curriculum kit. It is recommended for ages 14 and up but I expect some younger kids with an artistic bent might be able to pick it up as well.
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