My Favorite ART Books for Kids

From the time my youngest daughter, Laura, was just 3 years old, I knew she was going to be an artist. She was so careful with her drawings and she sketched in small strokes like an adult instead of the typical sweeping lines that toddlers typically draw. She would watch me draw and ask me questions, and she would copy my strokes.

It was around that time that my philosophy about homeschooling, art, and creativity changed. By that point I’d already been homeschooling for seven years or so. And really, art and craft projects were something I tried to avoid. I didn’t want to be bothered with the mess and the clean up.

In 2005 I went to a women’s retreat and one of the projects we did was to paint with watercolors. On real watercolor paper.

I loved it.

I hadn’t painted with watercolors since I was a child and never had I used watercolor paper or fine paint brushes. I was hooked!

I came home and told my husband about it and being the sweet guy that he is, a few days later he surprised me with a set of good watercolor paper, fine brushes, and real watercolor tubes – the good stuff. The paints alone were quite pricey.

I spent my free time drawing and painting with those watercolors and Laura, three years old, watched me. Several days went by and she started asking to paint too. She wanted to use my expensive watercolors and paper.

But she was only three years old and I didn’t want the paint wasted or the brushes ruined.

She kept asking and it wasn’t long before I gave in. I decided I would teach her the right way to use a paint brush so that the bristles weren’t smashed and ruined. I taught her how we had to squeeze a little paint out and let it dry and then how to wet the brush with the right amount of water.

And then I showed her how to sketch little birds to paint.

And you know what? At the age of three she understood and she was careful with everything. And her love for art grew.

And my life was changed.

I realized that my children could be trusted with the good stuff. And that making a mess is really about letting creativity flow and flourish. And that the clean up is worth the effort.

Since then, art has been a part of our lives.

So I wanted to share some of our favorite art books that we have used and loved. I discussed some of these books in my last post, The BEST Art Books for Kids, and how my girls have learned to draw. Here’s a recent work in progress by Laura:

My Favorite Art Books for Kids

Art for Kids: Drawing: The Only Drawing Book You’ll Ever Need to Be the Artist You’ve Always Wanted to Be

Beautiful Landscapes: Discover your “inner artist” as you explore the basic theories and techniques of pencil drawing (Drawing Made Easy)

Colored Pencil Step by Step: Explore a range of styles and techniques for creating your own works of art in colored pencils (Artist’s Library)

Drawing Trees

Illustration School

Recently, I purchased a new set of art books – different from our usual fare above. I came across these books on Amazon and immediately fell in love with the sweet pictures. I knew I wanted them for my girls.

Hannah {my fourteen year old} and Laura {now eleven years old} fell in love with them just like I’d hoped! Hannah is my ice skater. She’s an athlete and not as much into art as Emily and Laura, but she has enjoyed sketching ideas gleaned from these books as well.

Laura has decided to make greeting cards to sell using the techniques she learned in this set of books.