Online Art School for Teens

One of the most important ideas behind Art School is simple: Artistic skill can be learned. Some students seem naturally artistic from the time they're very young. Others don't. That doesn't determine what kind of artist they can become.

Artists develop through observation, instruction, experimentation, mistakes, practice, and lots and lots of making art.

That's why Art School isn't built around creating a collection of disconnected projects. Skills build upon one another. Understanding proportion makes drawings stronger. Understanding drawing makes paintings stronger. Understanding value makes color stronger. Understanding color makes watercolor stronger. Understanding observation makes everything stronger.

Over time, teens begin accumulating an artist's toolbox they can use regardless of what they decide to create next.

Art School was created especially for middle school and high school students who are ready for more focused art instruction. That doesn't mean they have to be serious, advanced artists. It means they're ready to move beyond elementary art projects and begin understanding the why behind what they're creating. It can work beautifully for...

• The Beginning Artist: Your teen has always wanted to learn art but isn't sure where to begin. Start with Drawing 101 and build from there.

   

• The Constant Sketcher: There are drawings everywhere. In notebooks. On homework. On scraps of paper. Probably on things that weren't intended to be drawing surfaces. Art School can help turn all that enthusiasm into stronger technical skills.

   

• The Self-Taught Artist: Your teen has learned through experimentation, books, YouTube, or other tutorials but has gaps in foundational skills. Art School provides structure and helps fill them in.

   

• The Future Creative: Your teen may be considering illustration, animation, graphic design, architecture, photography, fine art, fashion, filmmaking, or another creative career. A strong foundation in traditional art skills provides an excellent place to begin.

   

• The Homeschooler Who Needs an Art Credit: Your teen isn't planning to become a professional artist. They simply need a meaningful high school fine arts course that doesn't feel like busywork. That works too.

You do not need to know how to teach art. You don't need to understand perspective. You don't have to demonstrate shading. You don't have to explain color theory. And you definitely don't have to stand over your teenager while they paint.

I'll teach the art.

The step-by-step video format allows students to watch techniques being demonstrated, pause when they need more time, rewind difficult sections, and work through the courses at their own pace. That makes Art School especially well suited to independent homeschool learning.

Your job?

Help provide the materials. Make room in the schedule. Admire their creations. And encourage them to keep going.

One of the things I love about homeschooling is that education doesn't have to happen according to someone else's bell schedule. Art School can adapt to your family. Your teen might complete: Two or three shorter art sessions each week or one or two longer studio sessions.

A student who loves art may spend hours working on a lesson, practicing independently, filling sketchbooks, and experimenting with techniques. Another student may simply work steadily through the curriculum as part of a well-rounded high school education. Both are perfectly valid. There isn't one "right" way to be an art student.

Yes, Art School can form the foundation of a homeschool high school visual arts course. Because homeschool graduation requirements vary, you'll want to follow the requirements for your state and your family's homeschool program when determining and documenting high school credit. 

Depending on how you structure the course, your teen's art education might include:

• Art School video lessons
• Lesson exercises
• Completed artwork
• Sketchbook practice
• Independent drawing or painting
• Artist studies
• Art appreciation or art history
• Museum or gallery visits
• Creating an art portfolio
• Additional creative projects

Keep completed work or photographs of larger pieces as part of your student's homeschool records. By the end of the year, you'll also have something much more interesting than a test score: a visual record of how much your teen has grown as an artist.

Not sure which course to choose first? I recommend Drawing 101. Even if your teen's ultimate goal is watercolor, oil painting, illustration, or another visual art form, drawing develops essential skills that transfer into nearly everything else.

• Observation.
• Proportion.
• Value.
• Form.
• Composition.
• Light and shadow.

These are foundational artistic concepts. Once your teen begins seeing these things differently, they'll start bringing that understanding into everything they create.

A Natural Art School Progression:

Drawing 101 Learn observation, proportion, value, form, and foundational drawing skills.
          ↓
Watercolors 101 Apply those skills while learning color, brushwork, washes, layering, and watercolor techniques.
          ↓
Acrylics & Oils 101 Go deeper into painting, color mixing, value, brushwork, layering, and composition.
          ↓
Pastels 101 Combine drawing and painting skills through color, texture, layering, and expressive mark-making.

Students don't have to follow this exact sequence. But for a teen beginning a more serious study of art, it's an excellent pathway.

There's a funny thing about artistic style. Young artists often desperately want to find theirs.

"How do I develop my style?"

But style isn't usually something an artist needs to force. It emerges. As students learn foundational skills, they're also discovering what they love.

• Loose brushstrokes or careful detail?
• Bold color or quiet neutrals?
• Realism or abstraction?
• Drawing or painting?
• Portraits or landscapes?
• Watercolor or oils?

Eventually, preferences begin appearing. Certain marks feel natural. Certain subjects keep showing up. Certain colors become favorites.

Technique gives students the ability to create. Practice gives them the freedom to discover how they want to create.

That's where artistic voice begins.

Art School gives teens a strong foundation. But it certainly doesn't have to be the end of their creative education.

Students who want to keep exploring can continue inside Masterpiece Society Studio, where they'll find an extensive library of art instruction across different styles, subjects, techniques, artists, and media.

Teens can...

• Explore art history.
• Study famous artists.
• Experiment with mixed media.
• Try nature journaling.
• Explore modern and abstract art.
• Work through themed art courses.
• Practice techniques they've learned in Art School in completely different ways.
• And simply keep creating.

Because ultimately, that's the goal. Not merely to finish an art curriculum.

To become someone who knows how to create.

Your teenager doesn't need to be born with some mysterious artistic gift. They don't need an artistic parent. They don't need an expensive private instructor. And they don't need to piece together hundreds of random tutorials hoping they'll eventually add up to an art education.

They need good instruction. They need foundational skills. They need opportunities to practice. And they need someone reminding them that becoming an artist doesn't happen because you magically know how to do everything.

It happens one drawing, one painting, one mistake, one discovery, and one new skill at a time.

That's what Art School is all about.