I have written a lot about how the Charlotte Mason method was the reason I began homeschooling. There are so many aspects of a Charlotte Mason education that I absolutely love. One of the most beautiful and easiest pieces of a Charlotte Mason education to add to your homeschool is a Charlotte Mason picture study! Today I’m going to share with you lots of Charlotte Mason artist study resources and how to use them.

How To Do Charlotte Mason Picture Study

Charlotte Mason picture study, sometimes also called artist study, is incredibly simple to do in your homeschool.

We choose one artist to focus on for about a 4-6 week period.

Before we look at a single piece of art, we learn a little bit about the artist. I’ll read a short biography to the kids and have them narrate back to me what they can remember.

Once a week, I will introduce a new piece of art from that artist. The kids are required to carefully look at the artwork and then tell me what they notice about it.

I will display that piece of artwork somewhere in our home during the remainder of our artist study. The next week, we will look at a new piece of art from that same artist. The process will be repeated throughout the remainder of our time with that artist.

I’m not trying to drill my students with facts about the artist or the type of art that they produced. This is simply an introduction to help my kids gain an appreciation for art. More detailed art study is covered during other times with actual art lessons.

Picture Study Examples

You may be wondering what we use for picture study. There are tons of great resources available, and I have a few specific resources that I am particularly fond of for our homeschool.

I am a huge fan of The Homeschool Garden because each unit includes everything I need to add for a delightful Charlotte Mason experience in our homeschool. Each unit includes an artist study, which gives us the biography and 4-6 pieces of artwork to study.

We’ve studied work from Beatrix Potter, Audobon, Vincent van Gogh, Arthur Rackham, Monet, and many more!

We’ve also used God and the History of Art through our My Father’s World curriculum. This curriculum teaches art techniques, but also includes several picture study cards from famous artists.

Picture Study Prints

There are many places you can find great picture study prints for your picture study. With The Homeschool Garden, I print everything myself. I prefer to print my art on card stock, but sometimes I don’t have it available and use printer paper and laminate them.

Another option are the Picture Study Aids I’ve found on Etsy.

There’s one for Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh.

Of course, you can find artist cards on Amazon, too.

Finally, Simply Charlotte Mason has a wide range of picture study portfolios, as well!

Picture Study Questions

If your child is having trouble with discussing the painting, you can always ask them a few questions to help them get started. Here are some examples,

What do you see in the painting?

What colors do you see?

What time of day does it look like?

What do you think the people/animals were doing? (if applicable)

What is your favorite part of the picture?

Which objects seem closest and which seem furthest away?

Do you like this picture?

Picture study is a wonderful way to add some beauty to your homeschool. Both you and your child will have a greater appreciation of our world, and a deeper understanding of art just by incorporating a few of these ideas every day.