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27 Art Activities and Lessons to Try at Home

Art Education and the Coronavirus (COVID-19)

In the current situation of the widespread transmission of COVID-19 , the hands of educators are tied. Knowing schools could be the first places to shut down, we’re waiting to see what’s expected of us. Will schools close? What happens if my school closes? Do I need to prepare for virtual learning? What if my students don’t have access to the internet or technology? How do I teach when students have limited access to art materials at home?

These are all questions that have probably been on the top of your mind in recent weeks. We don’t have the answers to all of these things, but we do know that trying to keep some normalcy in the routines of the art room at home is going to be a challenge.

The approach to this situation is not going to be one-size-fits-all. Every single art teacher has a unique situation and different student body they are trying to reach. Keeping that in mind, you, as the educator, will have to develop ways to plan and facilitate learning in a way that meets your specific situation. To help ease the pain of trying to figure out what to teach to your students at home, we’ve created a list of ideas to help inspire your planning. As you look at these ideas, keep in mind the circumstances of your students, and make adaptations to serve your students best.

Have all your curriculum resources available from anywhere: FLEX Curriculum

Alternate Paint Ideas

Unfortunately, many students will not have access to paint at home. Consider using this as a time for exploration to introduce students to new types of paint. Challenge students to think about what natural materials they might have, much like the people creating cave art might have used.  Try some of these homemade paint options:

• Painting with Coffee
• Fruit and Vegetable Paint
• Paint Made with Spices
• Food Coloring Watercolors

Found Object Ideas

Found object artmaking is a medium that has been explored by artists throughout the ages. Let your students’ creativity flow by creating with the objects they have around them.

Here is a list of found objects that might help inspire your students. Try one of these found object ideas:

• Found Object Color Wheel: Using the objects found throughout one’s home, have students collect as many colored objects as they can to create a color wheel. It will become a fun challenge to see how many different objects in different hues one can find at their home.
• Andy Goldsworthy Found Object Nature Ideas
• Found Object Cityscape Printmaking Lesson Plan

3-D Lesson Ideas

Planning activities and lessons for 3-D classes like ceramics and sculpture might present an extra challenge. It won’t be very easy to truly emulate the happenings of a ceramics class without clay at home. Maybe, you’ll get lucky, and you can send each student home with a pound of clay, but this won’t be the case for everyone. Instead, get creative and keep it simple. Here are some ideas to consider.

• Create temporary sculptures with household items. Have your students photograph them, and use them as a drawing inspiration. When you eventually get back to the classroom, students can recreate their sculptures with other materials.
• Have your students create stop-motion videos using clay-like material. This can be done with clay, play-doh, or even cookie dough.
• Paper Pottery
• Cardboard Sculptures

Here are some additional clay recipes your students can try to make their own homemade clay:

• Baking Soda Clay

Lessons with Limited Supplies

When it comes to limited supplies, drawing is going to be the best way to have our students find success. They can simply draw with the materials they have, any type of mark-making and paper will do the trick.

Use these drawing prompts to continue your students’ drawing skills.

• 100 Silly Drawing Prompts
• 100 Sketchbook Prompts eBook
• 100 Sketchbook Prompts
• Finish the Picture Prompts

Observational Drawing

Now is the perfect time to refine observational drawing skills. To encourage your students to take note of the world around them, encourage them to participate in the “ View From My Day ” drawing challenge.

Other Drawing Activities:

• Turn Your Markers into Paint
• Stuffed Animal Drawings
• Drawing the Human Form
• Digital Drawing Ideas
• Visual Journaling Ideas
• Line Drawing Lessons

Additional Art Challenges to Engage Your Students

Use and adapt these art challenges to fit the needs of your students.

• Summer Art Challenge
• Supply Challenge
• Snow Day Challenge

These lists are just a few ideas to help you create lessons or art from home. Just as in times of uncertainty, there are no silver bullets or definitive answers, but there are often options. As art educators, you do have options at your fingertips; at AOEU, we are here to help you find them. 

What are your go-to options when schools close? 

How do your students respond with a variety or lack of options? 

Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

Abby Schukei

Abby Schukei, a middle school art educator and AOEU’s Social Media Manager, is a former AOEU Writer. She focuses on creating meaningful experiences for her students through technology integration, innovation, and creativity.

10 One-Day Photography Activities to Keep Students “Focused” Until the End of the Year

Go Big Before Going Home: Finish the Year with a Collaborative Paper Mache Sculpture

5 Art Activities to Unwind After Testing and Portfolio Submissions 

12 Art and Poem Pairings to Inspire Creative Expression in Your Art Room 

How to Draw: Free Beginner’s Course

This free drawing course will guide you through a series of fun and easy tutorials which will develop your drawing skills quickly.

If you’re a seasoned artist, this course could be a great refresher! You might even learn something new.

My name is Darlene and I created this free drawing course because I want to provide beginners with all the resources to learn the skills they need without having to fork up loads of cash or rummage the web for bits and pieces.

Shout out to Nadia Adalath for inspiring me to create this course! Thank you :)

The unique thing about this course is that I’m going to use my non-dominate hand to learn along with you.

That means that I won’t have the same level of control as my right hand and will basically need to develop my drawing muscles from scratch! I want to prove to you that you can learn how to draw even if your writing looks like chicken scratch!

Some of the things you will learn:

• How to draw the smart way
• How to draw more realistically
• How to draw what you see
• How to shade realistically
• How to draw with perfect proportions

Tools you’ll need to begin:

A sharp pencil, blank piece of paper and an open mind.

• HB Pencil: Also known as #2 pencil
• Any sketch paper

How to Draw for Beginners: Course Outline

There are 5 levels in this free drawing course with a total of 10 lessons (I may decide to add more). Each lesson can be completed at your own pace and comes with a series of homework assignments.

You can submit your homework assignments on the  RFA facebook page and get feedback from me and other students participating in the course, just like in a real classroom. It will be a great way to track your progress as well!

I like to date all of my work (yes, even if it’s bad) so that I can go back and see my improvements later. It’s really fun and I highly suggest you do it as well :)

If you want to make some suggestions on what to cover in future lessons, let me know. I’m always taking in new ideas and since these lessons are for YOU, I want them to be more personalized.

You can access all lessons from this page, so make sure to bookmark it in your browser. You can even subscribe to my mailing list to get notified when new lessons are posted!

Ready to start?

LEVEL 1: The Building Blocks of Art

Level 1 covers the very basics of drawing and why you don’t need to be perfect when it comes to sketching. You’ll learn how to draw faster and how to draw things that are more structurally sound.

Lesson 1: How to Sketch If you can make a mark on a piece of paper, you can sketch!  –>   Go to lesson!

Lesson 2: Learn to see things differently Learn how you can draw more accurately and quickly by breaking complicated objects down into simple shapes   –>   Go to lesson!

Lesson 3: Going from 2D to 3D Step up your game and learn how to make your drawings go from 2D to 3D using various techniques.   –>   Go to lesson!

LEVEL 2: The Devil’s in the Details

Level 2 allows you to really pay attention to what you’re drawing and how you can make even your line drawings look realistic!

Lesson 4: How to draw with accurate proportions Learn 4 awesome techniques to get your proportions more accurate.   –>   Go to lesson!

Lesson 5: Common Drawing Mistakes and How to Fix Them Are you paying enough attention? Learn how to analyze your artwork and easily identify areas that could use improvement    –>   Go to lesson!

LEVEL 3: Techniques to Step Up Your Game

Lesson 6:  Introduction to Linear Perspective Learn how you can draw unique scenes with people using one-point and two-point linear perspective –> Go to lesson!

Lesson 7:  Introduction to Line Quality Learn how to further enhance your drawings by varying your line weight  –>  Go to lesson!

LEVEL 4: How to Shade Realistic Textures

Lesson 8: Introduction to shading techniques

Learn four different shading techniques to shade a variety of realistic textures –> Go to lesson!

Lesson 9: Learn how to shade

Learn 7 simple steps so you can start shading today! –>  Go to lesson!

LEVEL 5: Wrapping it all up

Lesson 10:   – Putting it all together

Learn how to put everything from lessons 1-9 into practice through 3 examples –> Go to lesson!

117 thoughts on “How to Draw: Free Beginner’s Course”

Can you please show how to draw the human body?

I can’t seem to find a video from you about sketching a person from a photo i was curious if you have one. I enjoy your tutorials very much unfortunately the tablet im using leaves much to be desires would you suggest buying a wacom one like you have?

Just wanted to say thanks. Your video lessons have changed my life (in a good way)

I am a beginner…and I need advance experience on drawing

How do I sign up for this course please and thank you.

Hi Daniel, there’s no need to sign up. You can just click on the lesson links to get started. I don’t collect any of your information :) Cheers!

I asked for a video on drawing the human head – I found that video on your site. Thanks.

Your videos are so very helpful. I would love to see a video on how to draw the human head. Do you have one?

Pls I am a beginner and I want to how to draw. So when will your next class begin? I would like to take your free course for beginners

Hello I would like to take your free course for beginners. When will your next class begin?

Hi Maggie, you can access the lessons at your own leisure. Here’s lesson 1! https://rapidfireart.com/2017/04/06/lesson-1-how-to-sketch/ At the end of that page, you can find lesson 2 and so on and so forth :)

Hey so i want to learn anatomy and i did learn some stuff but it seem’s i just can’t get that next step and my drawings just suck so bad I used youtuber name he is quite good ( draw like a sir) tutorials but it does not click 🥲

Want to learn art

Can you help me

You are so very helpful and so very generous to share your talents with the world! A thousand thanks would not be enough – I have benefitted so very much from your instruction!

so glad i found these ,, could draw as a child, couldnt for 25 years after apart from a month recently ,, had some life issues and just happened ,, drew lots of pictures im way more happy wit now than i was as i cant draw again n e more ,, found these ,, did tutorial 1, and 100 pieces of paper no less , later have 3 decentish family portraits and bobble head edition , i will send u my month could draw and a sample of my nows thanks to ur 1st tut

im looking forward to my journey. Thankyou

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October 9, 2015 4 Comments

Art Teacher Tips: How do you grade art?

I recently received a question from a reader that I didn’t have a great answer to. Charlotte P asked:

Hi Cindy, I am an art teacher in a charter school in St. Louis, MO. I love your website and all of the information that you have so lovingly shared with fellow art teachers. I am looking for a great way to measure progress with students. I thought of letting them grade themselves on craftsmanship, creativity, participation, and effort. These are vague-ish. I do think that each one is important and maybe I should focus on one at a time…I see students once a week for 50 minutes. I think they forget a lot of what we do together, but maybe if I focus on one goal for an extended amount of time? I want to make it engaging and valuable to them. What are your ideas?

When I taught elementary, I had this same struggle, and I never really did develop a great system for this. I decided to put the question out to you guys in a recent e-mail newsletter , on the Art History Teachers Facebook Group , and on my Facebook page , and I got some awesome responses! Thanks so much to everyone who responded. I went ahead and just copied the quotes directly since the ideas were so great!

How do you grade art? Hear ideas straight from these awesome art teachers!

Defining Effort

I teach 5th grade through 12th only two hours per week. (Mon & Tues 5th-6th, then 7-8th, then 9-12th). It is difficult to get a lot done with such minimal time but we ‘mostly’ work hard. I grade based on 1) Following instructions and 2) Effort. Effort includes craftsmanship and creativity. A student being careful, thoughtful, and/or creative shows effort of craftsmanship and the students understand this.

Student grades also include their sketchbooks which is 1/4 of their overall grade. Sketchbooks are homework although they all use them at the beginning of classes for a warm-up.

We sometimes use the “glow” “grow” method of critiquing each other’s work which looks promising for increasing effort.

Changing your Method as Students Age

A great deal of an art grade is the age of the child and your goals for the class. Young children simply need to be encouraged to create, not focus on technique. If a young child puts a great effort on it, score high. It does not matter what it looks like. As they age, there are more specific learning goals to art, some should be technical knowledge of the subject matter, which can be tested objectively. Then technique comes into play, and a scale of mastery should be established. That being said, the effort put forth by the student should weigh in the final grade. A student who makes every effort to learn and improve should see that effort reflected in his grade.

Art is MORE than Production

Here ya go how I grade art:

1) Too much of an art grade (and most rubrics posted out there) focus on art producing only and no art appreciation, observation, or curating is measured in the art grade as a variety of visual intelligence should be recognized.

2) Creating, responding, presenting (aka curating), and connecting are all in the national core standards (see attachments) for assessments and teaching.

Although most faculty and parents at my school think I only grade on production because they don’t understand why presenting, responding, and connecting to art at a K-5th level is important. Regardless of there opinions I take presenting, responding, and connection into consideration. THIS MEANS I have to teach a program that children can use variations on visual intelligence in my class. I’m hoping that when my kids (both born to me and the ones I teach) become parent they will beg their child’s art teacher to make it part of their child’s art assessments and curriculum.

Chloe P., K-5 Art in Los Angeles

Point System

I grade on a point system. 10 points for demonstrating their understanding of the concept taught. 10 points for following the instructions. 5 points for creative thinking (I don’t want all projects to look the same).

Amber B., PreK-7th Art

A Simple Rubric

I use a rubric for their projects. Sketchbook activities get a daily grade of 95. I do this because 1: they did the work and 2: there’s always room for improvement. The rubric I use is pretty generic but I add a few things. I always tell my kids what I’m expecting to see first so there are no surprises.

Heather R, 6th grade Art

Following Instructions without Squelching Creativity

I grade primarily on effort and whether or not the basic instructions have been followed. However, sometimes a student will deviate from the project requirements and create something amazing–so should I give them a “bad grade” when their artwork is better because of this? I don’t believe so. Grading and teaching art are problematic for me, and I’ve been teaching for almost twenty years. I want to encourage kids’ creativity, not squelch it.

The Subjectivity of Art

I don’t grade every piece of art we create, especially in Kinder and First grade. Some art should just be about expression. When I do grade art, I discuss with the students what skills I am specifically teaching and assessing–shading, line work, perspective, etc. They know what’s optional and what’s non-negotiable. Then, I grade on a rubric and follow it as best I can.

Of course, all art grading is somewhat subjective. Johnny may have created the best work he’s ever done, and it’s still not as good as Jane or Juan’s. I have to look at that student’s progress almost as much as the final product. You have to reward process, hard work, and diligence–maybe even more than natural ability. I want that struggling student to know that he or she can get better. I want them to see the benefit of effort.

Also, I write down scores on a clipboard to keep for my records. I don’t write a score on the art itself, even on the back. Yes, Harry deserved a C, but twenty years from now, he won’t remember why. He and his momma will just see a grade on a precious memory, and that will mar it. And, I will be the jerk art teacher who gave that poor baby a C…..

Process or Product?

I try to leave out the subjective types of grading and look for things I can grade concretely. For example, if we are doing a sculpture, I can grade whether or not the arms and legs stayed together and attached.

Grading this way made it easier to explain to parents their child’s grade on a Rubric but did not satisfy a full grade in art for me. So now I try to give about 3 grades per project in my upper-grade levels. The first has to do with planning work, uniqueness, and design, the second has to do with craftsmanship and the third has to do with writing about the artistic process (Artists habit of mind). I have a rubric that all students fill out at the end of a project that reminds them of the entire process they just experienced. I feel too often we (administrators, parents, and teachers) forget it is the process that counts and not always the final product. I feel since students show their strengths in different ways, by giving multiple grades, they have the opportunity to see what areas they excel in, as well as need improvement.

Standards-Based Grading

Here at Pinedale Elementary in Pinedale Wyoming we are moving to a standards-based report card for the classroom teachers. Our scoring at each standard/benchmark is on a range of 1-4. Four being exceeds standards, three being proficient, two we call developing and 1 is basic. Also, we no longer average scores, but report the highest level that the student has attained. That being said – our specialists are still allotted only one box on the report card, so even though we assess several standards, we must crunch our assessments down into one-quarter score.

And that’s fine with me. I feel that art at the elementary level should be about exposure, experimentation, and exploration. If a fifth-grader isn’t developmentally ready to grasp the concept of one-point perspective, does that mean he should not be considered “proficient?” I think no. If I student is willing to engage with the media and concepts presented, I call that kid proficient, regardless of ability. If skill, effort, or natural ability show her to be above what I might expect from the average fifth grader, I call her “advanced”. A number 2 and below I reserve for the kid who shows up but refuses to engage, or simply isn’t present for enough sessions to do the work.

To me, even at an adult level, great art is about engaging with concepts and media. Draftsmanship, knowledge of vocabulary, facility with a paintbrush, etc. are helpful, but not the critical thing.

I staunchly resist the “measurable” criterion in student assessment, as I feel it doesn’t really help anything when applied to visual art, except as a gauge of my own teaching.

District-Made Rubrics

For elementary, my district has a pretty clear rubric that addresses materials handling and behavior (following directions, staying on task, etc.). I create my own rubrics for grades 6-12 which address whether students have demonstrated the required skills (yes, no, or partially). The grade corresponds to how the student scored on the rubric.

Liliana G.. 6-8 Art in Portland, OR

Specific Criteria per Project

I give my students the grading criteria with each project. I am looking for specifics with each project. There are ones that are on most lists: use of picture plane or composition and craftsmanship.

4-Part Criteria

This is something that I really struggle with!! As a high school trained teacher teaching primary art I often think I am not doing enough / doing too much in terms of assessment and I’d love help and to discover the ways other art teachers approach this aspect of our job.

The way I do it is, I will normally discuss the criteria for an artwork with the kids and write it down on the board as we go. I will refer to these criteria several times throughout the process of creating the artwork. After the kids have completed their art-making I need to get onto assessing it straight away, I use a simple rubric that has 4 aspects (1. did the artwork meet the criteria, 2. how successful was the craftsmanship, 3. was the approach to art-making creative, 4. how was the student’s behavior during the process). I then award the student with an A, B, or C and very rarely a D. However these grades do not go to the student, they are kept for my reporting. I do give the students verbal feedback throughout the whole process and aim to give them all written feedback with the rubric after I’ve assessed their artwork.

Anyway… I have no idea sometimes if I am on the right track!! Sometimes it feels really effective, and other times not so effective, so would love to share ideas on this one.

Self-Reflection

I used the Studio Habits of Mind to created a complex rubric for students to self-critique, followed by a few questions to aid in reflecting on both the process and their product. I have three basic forms k-2, 3-5, 6-8th, and adjust as needed for each project. It took many hours to formulate but already establishing a culture that communicates art-making is a creative and academic endeavor.

What NOT to do

I don’t actually grade art in my position (our classes are taught as just for fun) but I do have a funny story. My boyfriend had an art teacher in grade school that would seriously grade works as “P” for pretty or “NP” for not pretty. I thought it was funny but definitely not the way to go. He was crushed a couple of times with a big “NP.”

Thanks to everyone who shared your strategies with us!

You May Also Enjoy These Posts:

Reader Interactions

May 16, 2017 at 6:10 pm

Perhaps P was Proficient, and NP not proficient. I hope so.

May 16, 2017 at 6:37 pm

Me too! That’s pretty awful.

March 27, 2021 at 1:41 pm

I am dazzled by the comments about grading art students you all shared! I am interviewing to teach 1,000 kiddos K-8. I have struggled with managing grading for 630 students in the past. Today, I took away art as a “process” rather than a “production.” I don’t want students to be “squelched” and feel judged by a grade. I can use a class roster on a clipboard and note privately how everyone did with “process, behavior and objectives,” at the end of a project. That should streamline grading for such a large student body, and free me up to interact in positive ways as students grow, ask questions and create in class. Thank you for your input, and happy art teaching!

March 30, 2021 at 3:22 pm

You’re welcome!

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Teaching Art at Home

Categories *Grades 3-5 , *Grades 6-8 , *Grades 9-12 , *K-2 , *Preschool , Blog , Painting

Home » Art Lessons » Painting » Teaching Art at Home

Keep calm and create art.

We are living in interesting times…

Smack dab in the middle of a pandemic is a place most of us never expected to be and yet, here we are.

Make no mistake. COVID-19 is a threat. But, the hysteria surrounding the pandemic is becoming as dangerous as the virus itself.

If we all try to stay calm and collected, we have a very good chance at a really great outcome. Everything will be okay if we use our good judgment to do what we can to keep ourselves and others safe.

Whether you are a teacher who has been asked to teach your students via distance education, or you are a parent who is suddenly finding yourself at home with their children, you are probably wondering what on earth you can and should do to make sure the kiddos in your care don’t forget everything they’ve learned.

I’ve been homeschooling my 11-year-old daughter since she was 4, which is probably why I’m receiving messages from friends and acquaintances asking me what to do now that schools have been shut down for a period of weeks. And I’ve been telling them all the same thing.

No, really.

There’s no need for panic, or stacks of fill-in-the-blank workbooks. You don’t need to sign kids up for online programs requiring them to spend endless hours on a computer screen.

Here’s what you can do instead.

Let them play.

Yes… play. Even if your kids aren’t toddlers anymore.

Read books, play board games, dig out some Lego blocks, make art, create crafts, doodle, sing songs, listen to the radio, dance, kick a ball, go for walks (as long as you follow social distancing rules), watch some YouTube videos (yes, even those weird slime challenges featuring girls with super long fingernails).

Give your kids some time to explore their interests.

Let them sleep in.

Encourage them to eat well.

Worried about math? Find some recipes and do some cooking or baking.

Concerned about science? Do a few experiments.

Nervous about history? Watch a documentary on Netflix.

Believe it or not, learning isn’t rocket science. We all do it automatically if given half a chance.

Give them some time to explore their interests.

Also… making art is a non-medicinal way to stimulate dopamine – the chemical associated with the reward center in your brain. Increased levels of dopamine make us feel happy and relaxed, which is what all of us really need right now, more than ever.

Research shows that drawing, coloring, and other fine motor activities help to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and calm the fight or flight response, easing stress and unleashing creativity. Seriously. Painting pictures, dancing, knitting, sewing, baking cakes… all have positive benefits for mental health.

Below are links to 10 of my favorite art-making activities that can easily be done at home, with minimal supplies.

They are easy, they are cheap and they will fill your family with calm.

An Amazing Creativity Machine

Help your kids find inspiration where they least expect it by “strewing” their spaces with art supplies.

Doodle Drawings

This is a free-form drawing project that deals with the elements of design – colour, line, shape, form and texture.

Pattern Drawing and Painting

Using paper, pencils, markers and some objects from around the home and classroom, children can create some fantastic patterns that will astound and amaze.

Blind Contour Drawing

Blind contour drawing is an excellent way to train the eye to draw what it really sees rather than what it thinks it sees.

Advanced Scribble Pictures

This lesson requires planning and problem solving, much like a math problem or science experiment. Students will see that scribbles can become much more.

Kandinsky Circle Studies

Students will study the art and life of Kandinsky. They will also make an oil pastel picture of circles while listening to music.

Lines of All Kinds

Students will learn about lines as they create a colorful picture using a variety of lines.

Overlapping Shapes

Students will learn about line, shape and color as they create colorful works of art.

Spider Web Pattern Drawing

Students can follow step by step directions to create a spider web drawing.

Play Dough (+ 4 more creative ideas for kids at home)

Here are five creative arts and crafts activities kids can do on their own (depending on age, of course). Best of all, the materials are inexpensive and easily accessible.

Instead of worrying that our kids are about to forget everything they’ve ever known, just give them a chance to learn on their own. You will be amazed by the results.

Also, wash your hands!

~Andrea (Co-Founder, KinderArt.com and The KinderArt Club)

Join Our Club

You are currently on the KinderArt.com site which features lots of free art activity ideas for kids (I hope you are enjoying them!) HOWEVER, if you are looking for more detailed art lesson plans, drawing lessons, printables, sketchbook starters (and more) provided monthly, you will LOVE The KinderArt Club - a membership portal designed for parents, homeschoolers, classroom art teachers and studio instructors .

Inside the club you will find hundreds of printable PDF art lessons designed to work in small or large group settings, with a range of ages (from 5 to 12 years).

Get creative teaching kids at home, instructing students in a classroom, leading workshops in a studio, or sharing online, as you explore artists, art periods, science, nature, history, cultures and themes, with creativity and flexibility in mind.

Join us today at: TheKinderArtClub.com

What Are The Fundamentals Of Art? (And How To Learn Them)

Anyone that takes their art education seriously will know the importance of the fundamentals. These fundamental topics are like the foundation of a building: you need the foundation before you can get more detailed.

Whether you want to work as a visual development artist , concept artist, animator, illustrator, or anything else in 2D/3D art, fundamentals are a necessity. But how do you get started?

In a recent post I explained the importance of fundamentals and in this post I’d like to focus on a few of these topics with helpful learning resources. The best way to get better is to practice. But you need focused practice to see the best results.

If you want some advice from a master skip to 35:40 in this FZD podcast . Feng Zhu is a veteran concept artist who runs his own entertainment art school in Singapore. He only teaches the fundamentals and he explains why these are so damn important for every artist to learn.

The idea of form is very general but also very important. Artists who learn to recognize form see beyond the 2D paper(or screen). They’re able to create objects that look realistic because the forms look jubilant and lively.

Forms define anything with volume. The human body has a lot of different shapes and forms, especially in the face. Your ability to see and understand forms will be crucial to your success as an artist. This is a fundamental skill for good reason.

So how do you practice this fundamental skill? I find it’s best to start with shapes.

Everything in life can be broken down into smaller forms like spheres, cones, cylinders, and boxes. If you can draw these basic shapes in every perspective then you can reconstruct anything.

If you want to better define your forms then follow through with cross-contour lines. This guide will get you started and show you some great examples.

This can be one of the easiest skills to practice but one of the toughest to master. You’ll need to put in the work and really try to see, not just copy.

When you start drawing from life you might try the Drawabox lessons just to practice forms consistently.

Perspective

Another must-have skillset is the ability to draw or paint in perspective. You can find lots of great articles talking about what perspective is and how it works. But there’s only so much free content out there to help you learn.

However I will admit there are dozens of free perspective tutorials on YouTube if you search hard enough. This is probably the best place to start.

Seeing in perspective is knowing that as things move away from the viewer’s eye, things seem to get smaller. Terms like horizon line and vanishing point are basics and must be understood to learn perspective.

Perspective is something you just get better at with practice. It also connects into everything you create.

For example, the last section recommended exercises for drawing boxes and cylinders. To draw them correctly they’ll need to be in perspective, whether you understand the rules perspective or not.

Just keep drawing stuff and branching into new avenues. As you get curious about perspective look up some tutorials and follow along. Some videos may recommend using a ruler while others force you to train your eye.

The concepts really aren’t hard to master but they do take time.

And the best thing about perspective is that you don’t need to worry about tone, value, colors, or light/shading. These are necessary skills if you’re working for a finished drawing. But a simple perspective exercise can be done in one single tone.

If you want a jumpstart in your perspective work there are two books you should try. The first is Perspective Made Easy , very cheap and a classic for new artists.

More intermediate artists(or confident beginners) should also study from Scott Robertson’s How To Draw . The book offers real practical advice with exercises and case studies that will help you improve drastically.

There are tons of perspective books you can try so it’s good to have a plan of how & what to study.

But to give you a variety of choices here are some other perspective books you might like.

• Basic Perspective Drawing: A Visual Approach
• Perspective Made Easy: A Step-by-Step Guide
• Perspective for Artists

Some may argue that anatomy is not a fundamental topic because it’s not required for a good drawing. But it is a fundamental for professional work, especially in entertainment art because it applies to any living creature that you try to draw.

Once you understand how joints work you’ll be able to see how bones and muscles move. This applies not just to humans, but to any animal or creature with a skeleton.

But anatomy is one of those topics you can study for years and still not master. It’s a fundamental concept but very difficult to internalize. But you have to start somewhere, so just start slow and try to focus on one area at a time.

If you’re just getting started with anatomy there are two resources I’d recommend.

The first is Goldfinger’s Human Anatomy for Artists . This is very dry and not meant to be a one-off learning resource. But it will prove invaluable as a reference guide because it’s so exhaustive and reliable.

Brand new artists studying anatomy will do great with Proko’s anatomy video course . It’s broken into three different courses so you can choose to pick up the areas you really need to study.

This is what I use to study anatomy and I would never have wanted to start anywhere else. Stan is an amazing teacher, both with his demonstrations and his choice of words when explaining things.

I’ve yet to find a better anatomy series and while there are many options out there, Proko’s is cheap and great for beginners.

Anatomy is hard. Not just because of the technical component, but because of the sheer volume of information. Don’t let this overwhelm you.

Study anatomy in bits and do lots of studies. Get out to figure drawing sessions whenever possible. There’s no replacement for working from a live model.

Anatomy studies will also help you understand proportions and relationships between elements. This Tuts+ guide is a nice place to get started reading about this stuff.

Composition

Composition is harder to teach from scratch because it’s more about the finished artwork. When all the pieces come together and form a whole you get a composition.

The overall layout of a piece is very important. Artists often consider things like the rule of thirds or the infamous golden ratio . Neither truly defines a composition, but they can both go into your decision making.

Your choice of composition is defined by size, angle, perspective, and attention on foreground/background objects. As you can tell this fundamental skill really gets developed later in your artistic progression.

But it’s still something you want to consider while practicing. It becomes much more important when you move onto digital painting because every painting sets a scene. You can find lots of composition tips but it’s tough to actually teach fundamentals of composition without actual practice.

My suggestion is to study the work of other artists. You’ll stumble onto paintings that just stand out to you for whatever reason. Save these and keep them in a folder for inspiration. Check back every so often and try drawing your own ideas with a similar composition.

I’d also recommend learning a bit about composition as it relates to photography . A lot goes into crafting beautiful photos and professional photographers follow similar compositional guidelines.

The best study material is a book called Mastering Composition by Ian Roberts. It’s a few years old but the material is priceless and genuinely useful to all forms of art. Plus it comes in CD/audiobook format if you’d prefer that route.

If you practice and keep pushing your compositions I guarantee everything will start to click. This is a fundamental skill that takes a while to build up and understand. But once you get it you won’t be able to lose it.

Two other books I’d recommend for artists studying composition are called Pictorial Composition by Henry Rankin Poore and one simply titled Composition by Arthur Wesley Dow.

Value & Lighting

The subject of value is immensely detailed because it covers everything related to rendering. Your knowledge of form will prove immeasurably helpful when studying value.

If you’re brand new to value then just keep drawing and trying to render as best you can. You’ll find free videos on YouTube that teach rendering, but none will give you everything you need.

I recommend doing lots of value studies especially when you’re just starting to learn art. They can be stressful but they can also be very educational.

Start out with still life drawings and progress into portraits. Stan Prokopenko has a great portrait drawing course which can help you practice the fundamentals of drawing realistic faces and nailing the values.

Simply drawing objects around the house can yield fruitful results as well. Inanimate objects don’t move so you get the chance to study from life and expand your efforts across days or weeks at a time.

Studying value is very much the study of light and shadow . But there is a technical side of light that you’ll want to pay attention to if you’re going for technical rendering.

Lighting implies shading and vice-versa. You can’t have one without the other.

Once you get into painting you’ll be more concerned with colors in your lights & darks. But you should always be able to convey the same message through drawing with basic materials.

Shadows are cast in the absence of light, so there’s always a part of the object receiving more light than other parts. This makes sense in theory but it’s a whole different ball game when you put it into practice.

Check out this Tuts+ article if you want to learn more about lighting & shadows. Your values can be the same whether you’re using color or grayscale. This is the beauty of studying value because it really helps you improve your color selection later on.

Take a look at the color keys and composition pained by Singaporean artist AC Masoen.

His understanding of light is expressed brilliantly in these keys. Rendering is not very tight, but expression is high enough quality to get the message across. This is how powerful the fundamentals of value and light can be.

For learning recommendations I cannot overstate the importance of How To Render . Scott Robertson is a skilled artist and this book should be regarded as the best guide for beginners to jump into value.

It is a big book and it covers a lot. Probably more than a typical beginner needs to know. But this is why it’s so great because How To Render will keep teaching you for years after you buy it.

For a more technical guide I recommend Light for Visual Artists by Richard Yot. Easily one of the highest-rated books on this subject for good reason.

Moving on from value is the somewhat-related but very different subject of color theory.

It’s way too large to break into here. But if you’re ready to move into color then be sure you have Color and Light by James Gurney. Undoubtedly the best book you could get for understanding how light affects colors in a painting.

The last book I want to recommend wraps up all these fundamentals into one big compilation. It’s called Art Fundamentals and was written by three concept artists working professionally in the industry.

It covers all the major fundamentals like perspective, light, anatomy, and composition.

It’s not as in-depth as my other recommendations, but it is one of the few books focused solely on the fundamentals . Also it was written by professional concept artists so their teaching methods align perfectly with aspiring artists looking to work in the industry.

At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter how you study or which books/courses you use. All that matters is the total hours you spend practicing. So pick whatever interests you the most and just get going!

If you can practice for 6-12 months only on fundamental skills you will see noticeable improvements.

Fundamentals are crucial to every entertainment art career and they truly pave the way to your future success as an artist.

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How to stop procrastinating and get your Art homework done

Last Updated on April 2, 2023

This article was written for students who are sick of leaving their art projects to the last minute. It is for those who are tired of nagging teachers and parents who glare at them with disappointed eyes. It is for the chronic underperformer: for whom detentions, reprimands, phone calls home, referrals to Dean, quiet chats in the hallway, sticker charts, bribery (rewards from parents for passing), withdrawal of privileges, begging, snide sarcasm and attempts at reason seldom work. It is for those who slide under the radar: who manage to complete things to a satisfactory – but rarely brilliant – standard. It is for those who avoid homework for as long as possible, only gaining feverish, panic-driven momentum in the days or hours before the project is finally due.

READ NEXT: How to make an artist website (and why you need one)

The strategies contained within this blog post are practical, straight forward suggestions that have been compiled with the sole purpose of quashing procrastination in a high school Art student. Some strategies are based on the natural behaviours of high performing students; others are techniques that I have trialled and refined with my students over the years.

How to get your Art homework done: a no-nonsense guide

1. get a wall planner.

Not a calendar, diary, smartphone app, or a dog-eared handout tucked at the back of your sketchbook. A clear wall planner that is the first thing you see when you wake and the last thing you see before you fall asleep at night. In bold marker pen – highlight your project due dates and cross off the days that have gone.

2. Tidy your bedroom

To make great art you need an inspiring, well lit place to work, where you can spread out art supplies, tools and mess. If your bedroom is unsuitable, use a spare room, or stay late at school and work in the school art room instead. (Your teachers won’t mind. They will be deliriously happy).

3. Rid your workspace of all distraction

Turn off the internet; turn off the TV; put your phone on silent and put it out of sight. Forget about reading articles about how to avoid procrastination (like this one) and turn the music on instead. Crank it right up and let it fill your soul.

4. Pin blank sheets of paper onto the wall to represent the quantity of work that you have to complete

For example, if you are aiming to complete six A1 sheets of Coursework preparation, pin six A1 sheets up on your wall (NOTE: ten is the maximum for CIE Art & Design A Level students – it is perfectly acceptable to submit less). These sheets can be scrappy bits of paper or card: they should not the final presentation sheets, as they will get tattered and messy. Pin all of the work that you have done onto the sheets – including pieces that are incomplete and barely begun. (If you are working in a sketchbook, blutack all of your work-in-progress into the book). This allows you to get an immediate snapshot of how much you have done and how much you still have to go. In all my years of teaching, this visual representation of progress is the single thing that motivates students the most.

5. Look hard at what you have done…and work out what to do next

For some, this might be improving an existing artwork; for others it might be beginning something new. For many it should involve working in series (working on several works concurrently). This avoids the need to wait for paint to dry and allows similar colours and materials to be used in several works at once. When selecting which piece/s to work on, remember that you should:

• Focus on the things that will get you the most marks . In other words, not page headings or borders. Not sharpening pencils or carefully premixing colours of paint. Don’t spend time writing tonnes of notes if the drawings are barely complete.  Work instead on the gutsy, important pieces and work on these until they are done.
• Decide quickly . If you are unsure what to work on, just pick something. Then, when you next have class, ask your teacher.
• Don’t write a checklist or obsessively chart your goals .   In almost all cases, lists and their endless variations are just procrastination measures. The time you spend on writing a list and organising what you should do, would be better spent actually doing it. (NOTE: Any thinking you need to do can be done while you are creating. This is the perfect time to be planning how to improve / develop / extend your project. If you want to record your thoughts, just grab a sketchbook page and scribble the idea down when it comes to you).

6. And lastly, most importantly, pick up your pencil or paintbrush and START!

Even if you are disheartened at the amount of work that is required and feel that Art homework is taking over your life, remember that there is something inherently wondrous about putting marks on paper (or sculpting or composing three-dimensional form or whatever it is that you do). Unlike other high school subjects, where you have to commit facts to memory and regurgitate these in various contexts to demonstrate your understanding, in Art you get to play. Forget about everything else and concentrate instead on the joy of making: the thrill of smearing line and colour and texture about a page. Even if your teacher has instructed you to draw the most heinous still life imaginable, pour your teenage angst and heartache into it the work and turn it into something that really matters (i.e. explore the still life in a way that makes it personal to you). Take a deep breath and start. And after a little while, you’ll realise something awesome. The motivation you have been looking for all of this time comes with the doing. It is not some magical quality that you need to find before you begin: in starting, the motivation finds you. It snowballs, wraps you up in enthusiasm and builds momentum. To eliminate procrastination you just have to do something simple. You have to put down this article and begin.

Note: If you are not procrastinating, but are struggling to get your Art projects done, you may benefit from reading How to Draw and Paint Faster : 15 tips for high school Art students.

Amiria has been an Art & Design teacher and a Curriculum Co-ordinator for seven years, responsible for the course design and assessment of student work in two high-achieving Auckland schools. She has a Bachelor of Architectural Studies, Bachelor of Architecture (First Class Honours) and a Graduate Diploma of Teaching. Amiria is a CIE Accredited Art & Design Coursework Assessor.

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The Art Teacher

Art Lesson Ideas, Plans, Free Resources, Project Plans, and Schemes of Work. An 'outstanding' art teacher in Greater Manchester. Teaching KS3 and KS4 art and design.

KS3 Art – Cubism Home Learning Project

It sounds bad to say but “ I’m making this project up as I go along” 😂  as in, it’s not finished yet! I’m creating the home learning Cubism Scheme of Work for my KS3 (Year 9) classes and I am going to add lessons weekly depending on how my students respond to it and how much work they get done each week etc. If you would like me to share the presentation (what I have so far) just leave a comment below so I can share it with your email.

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*Update* I have added some more examples of the lesson slides and student’s work. Enjoy!

The overall aim of the project is for students to find a Cubist artist and create some research, then understand the features of Cubist work. I want students to be able to engage at home with minimal equipment so the first few lessons will be focused on drawings then eventually (hopefully) adding colour.

For this Cubism project, I am going to be sharing one lesson per week with my students, and updating the presentation slides as I go along – in our school we have 2 hour lessons in Y9 so some of the tasks might seem quite lengthy. If you want to use the presentation feel free to change / alter it so it’s suited to your classes.

I am using Loom to talk over the presentation slides and explain what I want students to do, whilst also posting the task in their online classroom. Here is what I have posted online the first part of the lockdown tasks:

Create at least one research page (on paper or online) about Cubism. – Add the title: Cubism – Find one Cubist artist and write 3 facts about them. Add pictures of their work. – Explain the key features of Cubism (objects overlapping, drawn from different viewpoints and positive / negative colours.) – Draw a section of their work carefully, including shading (and colour if you have the equipment) All writing should be in your own words and in full sentences. It can be done online or on paper, just submit a photograph of anything you have done.

For lesson two / week 2 I will ask students to focus on drawing an object from different directions, as described in this slide.

For lesson / week 3, I asked students to self-assess their artwork using the criteria from the previous lesson. They then looked at more Cubist artworks and identified how the artists used colour to create patterns and areas of positive / negative colour. This colour theory lesson introduced complementary colours and has a couple of shorter tasks (which are in the full presentation). Understanding how Cubist artists used colour informed the students next steps.

Lesson / week 3 in this Cubism project focused on artist’s use of tone. Students identified ‘successful’ tonal work, then applied their understanding of colour theory again (from the previous lesson). I asked students to work in warm tones this week to ensure they didn’t start adding too many colours all at once. It also helped them realise that harmonious colours on the wheel blend more smoothly.

And that’s everything I have so far! One student moved on quicker than the other and added cool harmonious colours to their work, I think it’s looking great:

If you would like this (unfinished) art home learning / Cubism project just leave a comment and I will share the presentation (what I have done so far!) with your email address. Also let me know if you have any questions or ideas about the project .

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101 thoughts on “ ks3 art – cubism home learning project ”.

Would very much appreciate lockdown projects. Thankyou.

Hi, thanks for your comment – I have just shared this with you 🙂

I’d like you to share this with me, so I can use the cubism project with my Yr8s.Thank you,

Like Liked by 1 person

Hi, no problem! I have just shared it, enjoy 🙂

Yes please would love this unit of work on cubism Thanks

Thanks for your comment, I have just shared it with you 🙂

Love this Cubism project. Please send me the powerpoint as my students will enjoy these tasks. Thank you Fiona

Hi, no problem! I have just shared it 🙂 enjoy.

Hello, please could you share I would love to use some elements of the presentation for my upcoming yr8 cubism unit. Thank you

Hi, yes of course! It would be great to see some of the work your students do too 🙂

I am doing something very very similar with my class! Would it be possible to see your PowerPoint please? It will be really helpful. Thank you!

Hi, thanks for your comment – I have just shared it with you! It’d be good to know how you get along with your class too 🙂

Hi This looks fab, and love the minimalist equipment approach I think this could work well with my class if you do not mind sharing. Thank you

Thanks for your comments, I’ve shared this with you. I hope it’s useful!

Hi there, myself and my students would love to have a copy if still available?

It’s still available and I just sent it to you – thanks and enjoy!

Please can you share the resources if possible, thank you

Like Liked by 2 people

I have just shared this one with you too, thanks for your comments! 🙂

this is great, would love a copy

Thanks! I have just shared it with you – hope it’s useful 🙂

Could I have a copy of this also please

Yes, no problem – I have just shared it 🙂

Hi is it possible to have a copy of this cubism scheme of work. Thank you.

Hi, I have just shared the project with you 🙂

Hi, this looks great – if possible would I be able to get a copy? Thanks very much.

Hi, yes of course! I just shared it with you 🙂

I love the cubism and abstract! I have to honestly say that I only experimented with this subject matter twice. I’ve noticed that most of the artists I’ve met experiment with abstract and cubism as their primary focus! It seems so adventurous and liberating!!! I have to take a dab at it again. Keep up great work!

Excellent really good ideas

Thank you, would you like a copy of the resources?

Hello Lively ideas, very inspiring for the learners. I would love a copy to try with my students. Thank you!

Hi, thanks for your comment and no problem, I have just shared it with you 🙂

Looks great so far! Would love to see the rest of it please?

I have just shared it with you – thanks for your comment 🙂

Great resources for using at home / adapting for classroom. Could I possibly have a copy of the cubism resources?

Hi, yes I think this Cubism project could easily be used in a classroom too! I have just shared the project with you 🙂

I’d like a copy please, it looks great!

Thanks 🙂 I just shared the Cubism project with you, I hope it’s useful.

can i have a copy please? looks great!

Sure, I have just shared the Cubism art project with you, enjoy!

This project looks great. Could I possibly have a copy of the cubism resources please?

Hi, thanks for your comment and yes! I have just sent the scheme of work to you.

New to the art teacher thing. Would love to try this program.

No problem, I have just shared it with you!

This is a great presentation. Thank you for sharing. I would love a copy please.

Thanks for your comment! And yes, I have just sent it to you 🙂

Hey there! This looks amazing!!

I full time homeschool my about to be yr 8 autistic daughter, who loves art. We follow the national curriculum and I just discovered your blog page. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful SOW. I was wondering if you might be happy to send me a copy please? I understand I’m not a teacher so this may not be something you would do, and that’s ok, I just thought I would ask. Many thanks for your consideration and also a massive thank you again for this inspiring blog x

Thanks so much for your comment 🙂 I hope it’s useful for you and your daughter enjoys it!

This is creative. Thank you for sharing. I would love a copy, please.

Hi, of course – I just shared it 🙂

With my thoughts drifting to the possibility of home learning again after the holidays I would really appreciate a copy of this presentation- it looks like a really fun project for students. Thank you

Hi, no problem, I just shared it! Currently looking at a few distance learning art projects myself…

I would love a copy of this!

This project looks fab I think my year 8s would love this project I’d love a copy if possible. Thanks

Hi, yes of course – I have just shared it with you 🙂

This looks amazing! I have a very artistic daughter who isn’t accessing school just now. I’m not an art teacher but would love to have a copy to work through with her. Thankyou very much in advance 🙂

Hi, thanks for your comment. Lovely to hear that parents working at home are using the resources too 🙂 I hope it’s fun for your daughter!

Thankyou very much for the pack. I really appreciate you sharing it.

thank you so much. Exactly what i needed.

Glad it is useful for you – I have just shared it 🙂

Thank you for sharing these fantastic ideas! Any chance to get a copy at this point? As a trainee teacher I would love to give this a try!

Hi, yes of course! I just sent it – best of luck with your trainee year, enjoy it 🙂

Thank you for sharing these fantastic lessons for the unit! Any chance to get a copy at this point? As a teacher developing the art curriculum this would be great!!

Hi, thanks for your comment! I have just shared it with you – I hope it’s helpful for your curriculum development 🙂

Please could you share the Cubism lessons with me via email – it looks fantastic!

Hi, yes of course – I have just sent it 🙂 thanks.

Please could you share the Cubism lessons with me via email – it looks fantastic!

Hi, no problem! I have just shared it with you 🙂

Please could you share the Cubism lessons with me via email – it looks fantastic! Your website is very helpful. Thank you!

Hi, I just sent it – and thanks for your lovely comment, glad it’s been helpful 🙂

I would also love to have your powerpoint, if still available? thanks very much – I am an ECT writing scheme’s of work from scratch so this will be invaluable!

Wow, thank you for sharing this resource. Could I also get the presentation, please?

No problem! I just shared it, sorry it’s taken a while 🙂

Excellent fresh response to cubism

Glad you like it! I just sent the presentation over.

Hi. I would love a copy of your presentations. I am Y6 and not very knowledgeable about this subject- it’s a long time since I’ve done O level art! Would like to view to inform my teaching of our drawing Unit. The results look amazing!

Hi – thanks for your message and I appreciate how tough it is for non-specialists teaching art! I hope this is useful for you and your students 🙂

I’d really appreciate you to sharing this with me, so I can use the cubism project with my students. Thank you,

No problem – I just sent it! I hope your students enjoy iy 🙂

Thanks so much – this is a really great resource which enables Cubism to become very accessible, thank you for sharing! Much appreciated!

thanks please share with me

I just shared it 🙂

Hi there, this looks fab! I would love a copy please!

Hi! I just shared it 🙂 thanks for your comment.

Hi there! This project looks so great, would you be able to share it with me as well? Thank you so much!

Hi, thanks for your comment – I’m glad you like the look of it! I have just shared it with you 🙂

Thanks very much for this lesson starter – Im teaching KS4 to my GCSE students but I can easily adapt this and would love to see the slides and use them while I’m looking at the work of John Piper

Hi, no problem – I just shared it!

Would be great to see your PowerPoint on this 🙂

I have just shared it 🙂

Yes, I just shared it 🙂

Hi I would love to see this project

Hi – I just sent it over, I hope it’s handy for you.

Hello! This is still so great, post covid! Would love to see it if possible!

Hi there! This project looks ideal. Would you be able to share it with me as well? Thank you so much in advance! A 🙂

Hi, glad you like the look of it and yes, I just sent it 🙂 enjoy.

Hi. I love this so much. Please could it be emailed to me?

Hi, yes of course! Thanks for the comment 🙂

Would love it if you could share this with us as we’re currently refreshing our Cubism SOW – thanks!

I have just sent it over – enjoy!

Hello I would love this resource if possible, thank you!

Yes, of course! You’re welcome.

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Making and teaching art. Based in Manchester. View all posts by art_teacher_mcr

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5 Top-tips to survive the Art workload

From a GCSE A*/grade 9 student

Jennifer Leigh | 22nd December 2017

If you Google “should I do GCSE art”, you’ll probably find a lot of students and mums saying how difficult GCSE Art was, as well as how impossible it is to keep on top on the workload, making it impossible to get a good grade…

Well, guess what–I took GCSE Art&Design from 2015-2017 and I was thrilled to obtain full marks in both my coursework and exam project! It was not an easy GCSE for me, but it was probably my most rewarding.

Note: I did the AQA Art GCSE course in 2016/17. I am basing this article on the AQA art courses (specifically the Art & Design course) but I have also read the specification for the new 9-1 course, so the information given and the skills I have learnt are 100% applicable for the exams taught from September 2016 (with exams starting in June 2018). This advice can also be transferred to other exam boards, although the Assessment Objective marking method that AQA uses (mentioned in my first point) may differ from that of other exam boards.

Every piece of advice (besides the first) can be applied to everyday artwork and any art lessons internationally–you don’t need to be living in England and doing your GCSEs to be able to “work homework around your schedule” or “cut some corners”; this goes for anyone struggling with art loads! In fact, it could even work for artists on social media who are trying to gain followers with frequent posting, but are stuggling to keep up with demand (we’ve all been there!).

It is a truth universally acknowledged that GCSE Art is a difficult GCSE. You have probably heard it a thousand times that the GCSE work load for all art courses is pretty huge. This is most definitely true; my art class was full of extremely talented artists who all were capable of getting that prestigious A* grade. However, talent is not everything and with so much to do in the course, it is very, very easy to fall behind.

Despite this warning, it would be a lie to say I did not love GCSE Art & Design and that the art lessons were not the highlight of my Year 10/11 timetable. These tips are all to make the GCSE Art courses (whether photography, art & design, fine art or something else) more manageable in workload, which I have learnt over the two-year period. I believe some of these tips (particularly the last one) significantly reduced my stress levels in art lessons

Less can be more (when it comes to marking)

For the AQA specification, there are four elements that are each marked out of 24 (old qualification: 20), leading to 96 marks (80): for each of your coursework projects and your final exam project (the final grade is 60% coursework and 40% exam). I will give a quick summary of each of the Assessment Objectives (AO) below (not in chronological order, but by what my teacher taught me as the most sensible order):

• AO3 Researching artists, going to museums galleries to collect inspiration. This is all about showing you have been using other sources to develop your projects, often through “research pages” and artist studies.
• AO2 Studies and practising actually creating art. If it’s still life, you’ll probably have some fruit plopped on the desk and told to draw them- it does help develop your skills when it comes to your final response or exam.
• AO1 Bringing ideas together. This is basically developing what you have learnt in AO2 and AO3 to start coming up with some concepts and ideas in preparation for AO4.
• AO4 Your personal response. This could be a “final piece” type artwork which mirrors the process of your exam project (which was how my school did this) but it could be another type of response. It is based on what you have learnt in AO2 and AO3.

This may seem off topic to the question of “less is more”, but when it comes to GCSE Art, as long as you have covered all four of these aspects in good enough quality, then you will not lose marks. Sometimes, teachers even discard some of your worse pieces for the marking process, so it doesn’t lower your grade. Of course, that isn’t a reason for slacking as your teacher will know how much you need to do at what standard for that A* (or whatever grade you are aiming for!).

This tip is more for reassurance than advice for something you should put into practice: just focus with the task at hand, and if there is one terrible Year 10 piece that you and your teacher both know did not show off the best of your ability, it will probably be removed with little fuss.

A good unfinished piece is better than a rushed finished piece

Similarly to the last tip, this is important considering just how much work you may have to do for your GCSE Art course. You may want to try and get every part of an artwork to the same degree of “finished-ness” and detail, but bare in mind that examiners just want to see you are capable of getting to that standard at all!

If you are running short on time for any art piece, just make sure one area of it is finished, to show you are capable of reaching that A*-standard! You will not be marked down on that, although, again, that is not an excuse for slacking- your teacher is unlikely to appreciate every painting or sketchbook page being half finished (note that this does not apply for artist research pages or any other collage-type work you might do for AO3; those are meant to look full and busy, however you may be able to cut some shortcuts: see below).

This was not a piece for my GCSE coursework, but I decided to include it all the same (it is called “Moonlight”; if you’re interested in finding out my process in creating this little fox, check out my article here, where I also discuss my advice for overcoming a “slump”, also known as “I-don’t-know-how-to-fix-this syndrome”) as it demonstrates my point pretty well!

This piece was taking forever to paint and add the detail I wanted, so I ended up focusing completely on the face and head area. As you can see, this did not really affect how “finished” the artwork looked; in fact, the eye focuses on areas of more detail, making it so much more effective. You can see, if you take a second look at this painting, that everything from the neck downwards is actually little past the “base-layer” stage. Obviously, if I had longer (as in, about five more hours!), I could have added all the white highlights to the whole piece but, had this been a piece of GCSE coursework, it would have shown the examiner that I am capable getting a great amount of detail, as I got with the face, had I had enough time.

Now by shortcuts, I don’t mean getting someone to do your work for you, or printing out a sheet of photos just to stick it straight into your sketchbook! No, I mean using different media to add details quicker to get that grade A piece to an A* in 20 minutes, or to save those photos slightly bigger just to fill out more space, more quickly. This is similar to the point above in that you may not finish you artwork how you wanted to, if only to save time, yet this is really not he end of the world, especially if it is only an AO2 piece.

Here are some tips for quickly finishing art pieces, and also finishing research pages:

• Ballpoint pens (are your best friend when it comes to quickly finishing pieces; from quick artist studies on a research page to finishing off that watercolour study that has been taking forever, adding details and shading with pens can save bucket-loads of time, as I learnt in my 10 hour exam!
• White gel pens are honestly such a lifesaver! I highly recommend this for any GCSE artist or indeed any school art department (I believe I currently own 6 white gel pens in various places around my house!) as it is as precise as a ballpoint pen, less messy than Tip-ex/white-out/liquid-paper and so, so effective! You can add quick highlights onto any medium in a similar way to ballpoint pens for shading.
• Paint is quicker than pencil and I know! we are all so used to coloured pencils and watercolours seem horribly difficult to control- but I promise you, just dash some watercolour onto a study and add all the shading with ballpoint pens and white gel pens once it is dry. I swear pencil work can take hours compared to a 20 minute watercolour wash; it’s not worth it!
• Large photos in collages are easy and fill up space- often they also look best overlapping in a random manner rather than being arranged in neat rows
• Add some sort of background , again, to fill up space. This can be as simple as a watercolour wash or a collage of papers (e.g. Book pages, a selection of colour sugar paper), which makes the page look a little less empty and brings out the real “collage’ look
• Have some bits and pieces such as stamps or typed-out information to– you guessed it- fill out space. This helps bring everything together and means less work or studies to do on the page!

Art homework doesn’t have to be a chore; work it around your schedule

This one is also very important; the number of people whom I’ve heard leave their homework for the lunchtime before the lesson is huge! I have sometimes been known to do this myself, I grant you, but I do find it brings me unnecessary stress (plus, I very rarely can manage to finish my art homework in 30 minutes!). A very easy way to fall behind on art homework can be simply to procrastinate, putting it off to the last minute and then forgetting about it. It is notoriously common!

So an easy way to prevent procrastinating with your art homework is to multi-task when you do it. I personally find that the best time for me to do my homework is when I would usually watch television in the evenings; a Saturday night 'Strictly Come Dancing' session is the perfect excuse to spend two and a half hours doing a collage or working on a study of an apple! Other times you could do your art homework could be during the school journey from home or on the way back home, during lunchtimes (though best not to do it the lunchtime before the lesson- try to spread it out throughout two or three as you’ll probably need the extra time!) or whenever you have a break in the day.

I don’t believe art homework shouldn’t be enjoyable; it should be fun, like a hobby. What is great about art is also that you can be social while you do it; I used to go to the art room every luinchtimes before a lesson so that I could chat with my artsy classmates while we all did some homework- it was a really nice way to spend my breaks in the school day!

What you reap now, you sow later

This is the most valuable piece of advice I could possibly give. I can not express how important time management is in art; if you can’t get your work done in the allocated amount of time, the unfinished work quickly builds up. This tip is what gave me five hours-worth of free periods at the end of Year 11, after I had finished my exam, while my classmates were finishing off coursework pieces. These free periods were very valuable for revision purposes so that I could now focus on subjects I stuggled with, putting Art behind me.

Put in the time. Work hard to make A* pieces at the weekends, in the evenings while watching television, because they will be valuable at the end of the two years. My favourite sketchbook page to this day is a photo collage I made which took me 10 hours to complete while watching TV one evening; you definitely can’t tell it took 10 hours when you look at it, but every photo, every stroke, was considering and placed carefully until I could declare it perfect. It is those sort of days that differentiated the A-grade pupils from the A* pupils: that clear passion and determination and pride in your artwork- and you don’t have to spend 10 hours on a piece just to prove that. Working hard at the start of Year 10 helps lower the inevitable stress (and workload) in the Year 11 exam season and that is precious; you really do not want to sacrifice revision and work in other subjects just to finish your art exam coursework.

I really hope these tips have been helpful and wish the best of luck to anyone doing GCSE Art next year, or hoping to in the future. It is possibly the most rewarding GCSE, in my opinion, if you are able to work hard and focus on the task at hand. Swapping my GCSE options to do Art in favour of Latin was quite possibly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made; those two years improved my art more than I could have ever imagined, as well as the experience itself just teaching me so many things!

Those who say art is an easy A* have probably never actually been through it, but it’s a great journey; just try to enjoy it!

© 2020 Jennifer Leigh. Based on website design GreatSEO .

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschool Artist Study

Looking for ways to incorporate artist study into your homeschooling plans? Today I’m sharing my favorite easy and practical artist study ideas in this guide to homeschool artist study.

(Post contains affiliate links; see disclosure for details.)

Before we jump into artist study resources, let’s establish that artist study can be as simple as introducing to younger children to selected artists or as in-depth as unit studies based on specific artists. That’s one of my favorite things about it because it can be adjusted to meet the needs of any homeschool family.

As far as the logistics of homeschool artist study, I suggest spending a month or more on studying an artist. Spreading the study out over a month allows you to weave it into your homeschool plans without making it so intense that it becomes overwhelming.

When it comes to choosing artists to study, you can approach it a few ways. One practical way is to choose artists that correspond with the historical period you’re studying already.

Another option is to encourage your child to become familiar with basic styles and movements and follow your child’s interests from there. Lastly, you can also choose your artists based on the availability of resources needed for the study.

Homeschool Artist Study: Books to Read

For pretty much any topic we study, books are our favorite place to start. Artist study is no exception. Here are some great go-to books for homeschool artist study. (Heads up: you can find them all in our Bookshop.org list! )

• 13 Artists Children Should Know – Exactly what it sounds like, this book introduces kids to 13 famous artists and highlights some of their greatest work. It includes games, puzzles, and a timeline.
• Anholt’s Artist Books for Children – This is a lovely picture book series and is a perfect way to introduce young learners to master artists.
• Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists – These books from Mike Venezia are great for homeschool artist study. Not only do they have plenty of facts about the artists they cover, they also include examples of the artwork that made them famous.
• For Kids series  – This series doesn’t exclusively cover artists, but it does have several books for famous artists. This is an especially great artist study resource for older kids and middle schoolers because these books contain tons of information, art examples, activity ideas, glossaries, timelines, and recommended resources for further learning.

As for reading suggestions about specific artists, I have a few book lists to help you along:

• Mary Cassatt
• Paul Cezanne
• Marc Chagall
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Edgar Degas
• Frida Kahlo
• Henri Matisse
• Claude Monet
• Georgia O’Keeffe
• Pablo Picasso
• Vincent van Gogh 
• Rembrandt van Rijn

Note that I’ll be adding artist-themed reading suggestions on a monthly basis. The above list may be small right now, but it will grow.

Homeschool Artist Study: What to Watch

In addition to books, we love to include video in our homeschool artist study whenever possible. Here are some to preview and consider for your studies:

• Art with Mati & Dada – These short animated videos are helpful for introducing young learners to famous artists.
• Famous Artists for Kids from Free School – These include a good mix of biographical information and works of art from the featured artists.
• The Impressionists – You can find this series through Amazon Prime Video. It’s probably best for older students, but it’s packed with information on artists from the Impressionist period.

Homeschool Artist Study: Websites to Bookmark

There are several websites you’ll want to bookmark for artist study resources. Some of these primarily focus on information, but some include great activity suggestions. Let’s take a look:

• Making Art Fun – This site contains more than twenty artist profiles. Each profile includes a short, kid-friendly biography, artwork examples, and worksheets to go with each lesson.
• Among other art helps, Ducksters has a listing of famous artists that includes biographies, interesting facts, and examples from each featured artist.
• Red Ted Art has a good roundup of lesson plans and activities organized by artist. You can find it here .
• Crayola.com has some great artist-themed activities for elementary kids. Some activities feature well-known artists and some feature lesser-known artists. Either way, it’s worth perusing the site to see if you can find some inspiration for your artist study.
• Created for use in school classrooms, The Masters from Deep Space Sparkle includes artist study lessons and activities for elementary age kids.
• National Gallery of Art offers incredible lesson plans for teachers . These free lesson plans are great for analyzing specific pieces and are especially good for older children, middle schoolers, and teens.

Homeschool Artist Study: Courses and Workshops

If you prefer artist study that’s open and go, — as in allowing you to login and let your students work without much help from you — you’ve got a couple of good options.

The first is Masterpiece Society’s Mixing with the Masters Mixed Media Workshop . We absolutely love how this workshop combines the opportunity to create with artist study. Volume I covers six master artists and walks through their lives, artistic backgrounds, styles, and gives students a chance to create several pieces inspired by these art legends.

Masterpiece Society also has an art appreciation that we’ve used and loved. It would be a great option for anyone looking to approach artist study without necessarily incorporating opportunities to get hands-on. You can learn more about Masterpiece Society Art appreciation here .

Homeschool Artist Study: Additional Resources

Books, documentaries, and courses are great foundations for homeschool artist study, but it doesn’t have to end there. Here are some other resources to consider using with your artist study:

• Need some quick and easy artist study inspiration? These short Masterpiece Makers podcast episodes have you covered!
• Artsy Crafty Mom has tons of activity and art suggestions arranged by artists.
• These Famous Artists and Picture Study Pages include notebooking pages to help you document time studying 30 different artists in your homeschool.

• Famous Artists Sticker Book – The idea of sticker books alone is enough to engage some kids. That’s why this sticker book is so helpful for artist study. Similarly, The Art Masters Sticker Book from Dover accomplishes the same goal, but focuses on sixteen world-renowned artists.
• Art-themed Go Fish cards  are a fantastically fun way to build familiarity with famous artists.
• Coloring pages – These coloring pages feature famous works of art and are a fun and easy compliment to homeschool artist study.

Hopefully by now you see that homeschool artist study doesn’t have to be complicated or intimidating. It’s just a matter of providing your students with the right resources and leading the way.

4 thoughts on “The Ultimate Guide to Homeschool Artist Study”

My kids love creating and painting art. I’m happy to find your site. There are many useful information. It’s great.

Being an artist myself, I definitely think art study is important. One of the great aspects of homeschooling is the ability to tailor your child’s curriculum. We are gearing up to start homeschooling my 5 year old in the fall, so art study will definitely be part of their routine. Thank you for the great resources.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Christopher! You’re absolutely right, a customized education is one of the major benefits of homeschooling. I’m sure you’ll be able to add elements to artist study that I’ve never dreamed of doing. Your daughters will greatly benefit from your art experiences!

By the way, I visited your site and noticed your recent book release. Congrats on that awesome accomplishment! It looks amazing and I’ve added it to my wishlist. :)

Thank you for adding the book to your wishlist!

I am glad I stumbled upon your site, It has a lot of great information. It is a little daunting trying to figure out a homeschool curriculum to follow.

Both my daughters already love drawing and creating art. I am glad we will be able to incorporate that element into their study.

Comments are closed.

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The best way to do your art homework: a guide for students.

Just so much work is done in the classroom. An art student should expect to have homework, which is an opportunity to practice and exercise creative skills. That last point is perhaps the most important reason to do homework. You have to be able to put your creativity to work. There are a couple of ways that will help you in getting those images in your mind down on paper or canvas.

• Stop Procrastinating. You should never wait to the last minute to do an art assignment. You risk having a creative block occur whenever you wait too long. Set aside time after school when you feel your imaginative juices are flowing the best. It is during those minutes you ought to be working on that art project.
• Organize Your Working Space. You are well aware of the degree of concentration necessary to do well in art. Anything that may disturb your thoughts should not be in the area where you will be working. Go ahead and turn off your smart phone; you don’t need to talk to anybody while you are working. Music is all right in the background but it should not be overly distracting.
• Pace Yourself. Creativity can be very draining and after hours of concentration you will need a break. Take the opportunity to refresh yourself and then get back to work.
• Outline the Steps. Michelangelo didn’t just splash paint on the Sistine Chapel. He worked from sketches he had done earlier and a process was followed whereby ideas were transferred to the wall. Prepare for yourself an outline of what you are going to do on the project and then go to work on it. It may be possible for you to do a section of the outline out of sequence. It isn’t really a problem if the creative forces are there. The other part can be worked on a bit later perhaps.
• Making Inventory of Your Supplies. Do you have what you need to get the job done properly? If you do not be sure to get all the needed supplies before you get started. This will allow you to work without the interruption of going to purchase paper or paint. Contact DoMyHomeworkNow , a professional service that will help you with any kind of assignment.

Homework does not have to be a night in the salt mines. You do have to organize both your time and your efforts. An idea you may consider is to jot down the amount of time required to finish a given project. This is a time audit which will allow you to have an idea of how much time you need for a given type of assignment. It will help you do even better job on future homework.

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How to Do Homework

Last Updated: May 6, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Ronitte Libedinsky, MS . Ronitte Libedinsky is an Academic Tutor and the Founder of Brighter Minds SF, a San Francisco, California based company that provides one-on-one and small group tutoring. Specializing in tutoring mathematics (pre-algebra, algebra I/II, geometry, pre-calculus, calculus) and science (chemistry, biology), Ronitte has over 10 years of experience tutoring to middle school, high school, and college students. She also tutors in SSAT, Terra Nova, HSPT, SAT, and ACT test prep. Ronitte holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MS in Chemistry from Tel Aviv University. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 957,523 times.

Even though your parents probably complain about how hard it was in their day, students nowadays have more homework than ever before, even when just starting their first year at middle school. That homework doesn't need to be a struggle now. Learning to plan out an efficient schedule for completing your homework, working on it effectively, and knowing when to get help with difficult assignments can help take the stress out of studying. Don't put it off any longer. See Step 1 for more information.

Working on Homework

Once you go into your space and start working, try not to leave until you've got a break scheduled. If you want a quick snack or drink, get it now before you start. Hit the bathroom and make sure you'll be able to work for the amount of time before your next break, uninterrupted.

• It's common that students will try to multi-task, watching TV or listening to the radio or continuing to chat on Facebook or Instagram while also trying to do homework. It'll be so much more fun to do those things after you're already done with your homework, though, and your homework will take half as much time if you're focused on doing nothing but your homework.
• Check your phone or your social networking sites during your study break, but not before. Use these distractions as a carrot, not as a pacifier.

If one assignment proves challenging and time-consuming, it's okay to switch for a while to something else. Just make sure to save enough time to circle back and give it another shot.

• Try to figure out what works best for you. Some students might like to start their homework immediately after school to get it done as quickly as possible, while it may be better to give yourself an hour to relax before starting in on it and decompress from the long school day. Don't wait for the last minute.
• While it may seem like a better idea to work straight through and finish, it's possible that the quality of the work you're doing will start to suffer if you don't give your mind a rest. It's difficult to think hard for more than 45 minutes at a time on a particular subject. Give yourself a rest and come back refreshed.

• The first fifteen minutes after a break are your most effective minutes, because your mind will be cleared, and ready to work hard. Give yourself a pep talk and dive back in, refreshed and ready.

• If you have trouble staying focused, get a parent, sibling, or friend to help keep you honest. Give them your phone while you're working to avoid the temptation to check it, or give them the video game controller so you won't be able to plug in for a few minutes of alien-hunting when you're supposed to be doing your homework. Then, when you're finished, show them the finished product and earn back your fun. Make it impossible to cheat.

• You can make yourself take enough time by having your gate-keeper (the person with your phone or video game controller) check over your homework for quality when you're done. If you know you're not going to get it anyway unless it's done right, you won't have any reason to rush. Slow down and do it right.

Joseph Meyer

When doing practice problems, promptly check to see if your answers are correct. Use worksheets that provide answer keys for instant feedback. Discuss answers with a classmate or find explanations online. Immediate feedback will help you correct your mistakes, avoid bad habits, and advance your learning more quickly.

Planning Your Homework

• It's common to quickly write out the math problems you're supposed to do at the top of your notes, or scribble down the page number of the English reading on a textbook page, but try to recopy this information into a specific homework list so you will be sure to remember to do it.
• Write down as many details as you can about each assignment. It's good to include the due date, corresponding textbook pages, and additional instructions from your teacher. This will help you plan your night of homework more effectively. Also, it's a good idea to write about your homework in a planner.

• Homework doesn't have to wait until you get home. Look through an assignment as soon as it's been given, so you'll have the time to ask your teacher any questions you might have before you leave school for the day.

• At home , a desk in your bedroom might be the best place. You can shut the door and tune out any distractions. For some students, though, this is a good way to get distracted. You might have video games, computers, guitars, and all sorts of other distractions in your bedroom. It might be a better idea to sit at the kitchen table, or in the living room, where your parents can call you out for procrastinating. You'll get it done more quickly without the temptation of distraction.
• In public , the library is a great place to study and do homework. At all libraries, it's a rule that you have to be quiet, and you won't have any of the distractions of home. The school library will often stay open after school ends, making it a good option for finishing up homework before heading home, or your school may even have an after-school study spot specifically for the purpose. [11] X Research source
• Try to switch it up . Studying in the same place too often can make work more difficult. Some studies have shown that a change in environment can make your mind more active, since it's processing new information. You'll be able to vary your routine and remember what you learned more effectively.

• Try starting with the most difficult homework . Do you really hate the idea of getting into the algebra homework? Does reading for English take the longest? Start with the most challenging homework to give yourself the most time to complete it, then move on to the easier tasks you can complete more quickly.
• Try starting with the most pressing homework . If you've got 20 math problems to do for tomorrow, and 20 pages to read in a novel for Friday, it's probably better to start with the math homework to make sure you'll have enough time to complete it. Make homework due the next day the priority.
• Try starting with the most important homework . Your math homework might be difficult, but if it's only worth a few completion points, it might be less important to spend a lot of time on it than the big project for Social Studies that's due in two days. Devote the most time to the most valuable assignments.

• Set an alarm or a timer to keep yourself honest. The less time you spend procrastinating and checking your text messages, the more quickly you'll be done. If you think you can finish everything in a half hour, set a timer and work efficiently to finish in that amount of time. If you don't quite finish, give yourself a few extra minutes. Treat it like a drill.
• Keep track of how long you usually spend on particular assignments on average. If your math homework typically takes you 45 minutes to finish, save that much time each night. If you start plugging away for an hour, give yourself a break and work on something else to avoid tiring out.
• Schedule 10 minutes of break time for every 50 minutes of work time. It's important to take study breaks and give your mind a rest, or you'll work less effectively. You're not a robot!

Finding Extra Time

• Do you really need an hour of TV or computer after school to decompress? It might be easier to just dive into your homework and get it done while the skills are still fresh in your mind. Waiting a couple hours means you'll have to review your notes and try to get back to the same place you already were. Do it while it's fresh.
• If you've got three days to read an assignment, don't wait until the last evening to do it all. Space it out and give yourself more time to finish. Just because you've got a due date that's a long time away doesn't mean it wouldn't be easier to finish now. Stay ahead of the game. Try either waking up earlier or going to bed later. But don't get too tired!

• If you've got to read a bunch of stuff for homework, read on the bus. Pop in some headphones to white noise that'll drown out the shouting of other students and tune into your book.
• The bus can be distracting, or it can be a great resource. Since it's full of your classmates, try to get other students to work with you and get things done more quickly. Work together on the math problems and try to figure out things together. It's not cheating if everyone's doing the work and no one's just copying. Also, you might make some new friends while you're at it!

• Don't rely on this time to finish homework just before it's due. Rushing to finish your last few problems in the five minutes before you need to turn it in looks bad in front of the teacher, plus it doesn't give you any time to review your homework after you finish it. Rushing is a good way to make mistakes. And always check difficult problems you had trouble with.

• Work on your homework while you're waiting for a ride, while you're killing time at your brother's soccer game, or while you're waiting for your friend to come over. Take advantage of any extra time you have in the day.

Getting Homework Help

• Asking for help with your homework isn't a sign that you're bad at the subject or that you're "stupid." Every teacher on the planet will respect a student that takes their homework seriously enough to ask for help. Especially ask if you weren't there that day!
• Asking for help isn't the same thing as complaining about the difficulty of homework or making excuses. Spending ten minutes doing half your math problems and leaving most of them blank because they were hard and then telling your teacher you need help isn't going to win you any favors on the due date. If it's hard, see your teacher ahead of time and find the time to get help.

• If there's not an organized homework help group at your school, there are many private tutoring organizations that work both for-pay and non-profits. Sylvan Learning Center and other businesses have after-school hours that you can schedule appointments at to get help studying and completing your homework, while community centers like the YMCA, or even public libraries will often have homework help hours in your area.
• Getting help doesn't mean that you're bad at your homework. All variety of students visit tutoring centers for extra help, just to make sure they have enough time and motivation to get everything done. It's hard being a student! There's no shame in extra help. Imagine being afraid to ask for anything! You wouldn't be able to ask in restaurants, shops, anywhere!

• Make sure that your group study sessions don't cross the line into cheating. Dividing up an assigned so your friend does half and you copy each other's answers is considered cheating, but discussing a problem and coming up with a solution together isn't. As long as you each do the work separately, you shouldn't have any problems.

• Some parents don't necessarily know how to help with your homework and might end up doing too much. Try to keep yourself honest. Asking for help doesn't mean asking your parent to do your work for you.
• Likewise, some older relatives have outdated ways of completing specific tasks and might suggest forcefully that something you learned in class is wrong. Always use your teacher's approach as the correct approach, and discuss these alternative ways of completing an assignment with your teacher if necessary.

Supercharge Your Studying with this Expert Series

Expert Q&A

Reader Videos

• Make sure your little study space is well lit, quiet, and comfortable. This will make it much easier to do your homework properly. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• If you missed school that day, then you should call a friend to get the notes and/or homework from that day. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Take a piece of paper or wipe board and create a schedule for your homework. Be generous with the amount of time that you give for each task. If you end up finishing a task earlier than the schedule says, you will feel accomplished and will have extra time to complete the next task. It makes homework get done quicker than usual. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

• Make sure you have what you need handy when you get stuck on homework. Don't be afraid to ask questions if you're confused — asking helps you understand things better. And get enough sleep since it's easier to get your work done when you're well-rested.
• Don't put off starting homework just to have more playtime. Jumping in early leaves more free time for later but ensures you don't miss out on sleep. Plus, the class material is still fresh right after school, so you'll understand your homework better.
• Do your homework as soon as you get home every day except Fridays. On Fridays, give yourself permission to relax for the evening. Also, take short breaks as you work to help you focus. Play a quick game, eat a healthy snack, or use the bathroom.
• Ask for help when you need it, but don't rely on others to give you all the answers. The point of homework is for you to practice what you've learned, so try to work through problems yourself before asking for hints or explanations.
• Write down homework assignments in your planner right when your teacher gives them so you don't forget details later. Knowing exactly what work you need to do keeps you from being surprised.
• Break big assignments down into smaller pieces that feel more manageable. Taking things step-by-step makes big tasks feel less overwhelming, and helps you stay motivated.

• Never leave unfinished homework for the next day because you might have other homework to do and you will have to do both. Thanks Helpful 24 Not Helpful 0
• If you forget your homework, your teacher might not accept late work or may even give you more homework. Thanks Helpful 7 Not Helpful 1

Things You'll Need

• Writing equipment, such as pencils, rulers, and erasers.
• Resources that may help you work faster.
• A comfy place to sit while doing homework.

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.warnerpacific.edu/5-tips-for-dealing-with-too-much-homework/
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-wealth/201206/10-tips-make-homework-time-less-painful
• ↑ Ronitte Libedinsky, MS. Academic Tutor. Expert Interview. 26 May 2020.
• ↑ https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/plan-for-college/college-prep/stay-motivated/take-control-of-homework
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/homework.html
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/understanding-assignments/
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html
• ↑ http://kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/school/homework.html#a_Create_a_Homework_Plan
• ↑ https://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Extras/StudyMath/Homework.aspx
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/studying-101-study-smarter-not-harder/
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/homework-help.html

About This Article

If you need to do homework, find a quiet, comfortable spot where you won’t be distracted. Turn off any electronics, like your TV, phone, or radio, and gather all of the supplies you’ll need before you get started. Work on the most important or hardest assignments first to get them out of the way, and if you have a homework assignment that actually seems fun, save it for last to motivate you to finish your other work faster. Keep reading to learn how to find extra time to get your homework done, like working on it on the way home from school! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Good Examples of Artist Research Pages

If you are wondering where you can find good examples of artist research pages, you’ve come to the right place.  It is great to have a collection of pages to show your students to inspire them and now you can just send them the link to this blog post.  Thanks to all the talented art teachers for their permission to use these images.

An artists research page should include the artist’s name, images of the artists work, annotation about the artist and also annotation which is the student’s personal response to the work.  Why did they choose it? How does it relate to the theme/idea they are investigating? What does the work inspire them to do next? Many successful artist research pages are also embellished so the whole page is a reflection of the artist’s work.

Every aspect of the research page below reflects the artist Ian Murphy.  It shows the artists name and includes annotation and images.  The student has created a drawing in the bottom left-hand corner inspired by the artists work. It appears that the background has had anaglypta wallpaper printed onto the page which creates a pattern that reflects the wrought iron and stone carving found in Ian Murphy’s drawings. The white and grey paint reflects the stonework of Murphy’s work.

Below, a combination of the artist work and the students work create a striking, colourful page.  Keywords describe the artists work.  The annotation is a combination of information about the artist and the student’s response to the work.  I like the ‘What Next!’ in the cup.  It shows the student is thinking ahead.

I wanted to include the research page below as the annotation is in-depth, insightful and full of subject-specific language.  Excellent to show your students what good annotation looks like.

The simple black and white presentation with torn edges below, reflects the artists work.  There’s nothing like a bit of white pen on black paper to create an artistic-looking page.  Over 50% of the annotation is the student’s response to the work.  I think this is a good ratio to have in mind.  The annotation is intelligent and includes the students own ideas.  The student is interpreting the work.

The Roy Thomas artist research page below, is neatly presented with clear images and annotation.  Together with the artist analysis , it creates a striking double-page spread. An artist analysis is where the student has recreated an artwork or section of an artwork so that they go through the process the artist has been through.  It is a controversial issue here in the UK with a fashion for moving away from doing this.  Many art teachers still believe there is a lot to learn by going through this process.  Another approach is for the student to create an artwork ‘in the style of’ the artists work from their own photographs.

The student includes detailed annotation about the process they have been through.

Julia Lillard creates surreal digital and paper collage.  In the research page below, the student Eva has captured the sepia tones often found in the artist work by lightly coffee staining the background and using brown gummed tape at the corners of artworks like old fashioned picture corners.  The student has included annotation and their own pieces of vintage collage.  The detailed annotation includes information about the artist, quotes from the artist, their personal opinion, and what they plan to do next.

The Claerwen James research page below has a successful diagonal layout on the left-hand page.  Students often want to fill 100% of the page but this space works well.  The students has also completed a skilful artist analysis.

I wanted to include the research page below, created at Kingsway Park High School , as it has such a strong composition. I love the way the text mirrors the shape of the artwork by artist Lorraine Roy . The student, Fizza I, has cut away some of the artwork and recreated it themselves to analyse the work.

For the research page below, the student first painted with acrylic on black paper.  They picked up on the reflected light that can be found in Liam Spencer’s work and used daubs of paint to create impressionistic car and street lights.  This students theme was ‘reflected light’ so they carefully chose Spencer’s work that shows this.  Their annotation is detailed, intelligent and uses subject-specific language.

The student who created the page below was investigating the theme of body issues and the size zero debate.  She researched the work of artist Adele Carney.  The use of dressmakers patterns in the background and tape measures was appropriate to the artist and theme.

I use the teaching resource below to support my students when they create artist research pages, especially when it’s the first time they do this.

If you have enjoyed this blog post about artist research pages, why not subscribe by clicking on the image below.  If you are an art teacher you will also be able to access 3 of my free resources every month too.

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The Arty Teacher

Sarah Crowther is The Arty Teacher. She is a high school art teacher in the North West of England. She strives to share her enthusiasm for art by providing art teachers around the globe with high-quality resources and by sharing her expertise through this blog.

2 responses to “Good Examples of Artist Research Pages”

Hello Sarah. Good day. Am impressed with your good job on Artist research. Please kindly mail to me examples of students responses to artist works while working on ARTIST RESEARCH PROJECTS (IGCSE) Thanks and hoping to hear from you soon.

Hi Monday, I’m sorry but I don’t email out student work. I hope you have discovered the ‘Arty Students’ section of the site which you can see here: https://theartyteacher.com/category/arty-students/

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13 Simple and Effective Ways to Gain Motivation For Art

• Last updated on November 6, 2022

If you’re looking for motivation for art, this is the perfect article for you.

Motivation for drawing comes from discipline and a good set of habits. Knowing how to break down your practice into small chunks, sticking through commitments, and developing a good mindset are critical. Things like comparing yourself to others and practicing too much can lower your motivation.

As an artist, I’ve personally faced burnout and a period of low motivation where I did not draw for months. It can be tough to even pick up a pencil when you have no motivation to draw.

When I stumbled upon some of these concepts in this article, I learned exactly how to get motivated to draw again. 

Here are the lessons I have learned over the years:

Table of Contents

1. Rely on discipline, not motivation

One of the reasons why you might not be making art consistently is that you rely too much on motivation. Motivation can fluctuate wildly depending on a lot of factors like emotions, mood, personal issues, and even the weather! 

Instead, I found it very helpful to rely on discipline. Rather than waiting to become motivated to draw, start taking action even if you don’t feel like drawing.

When you do that, you’ll often find that the process becomes enjoyable, and you’ll naturally become motivated to continue. This mindset shift allowed me to make art consistently and become much happier as a result.

Do expect some resistance when you start to draw. When you lack motivation, your mind will come up with all sorts of excuses and reasons as to why you shouldn’t draw. Don’t listen to that voice. Shut out your thinking and just start drawing. Again, don’t expect to be motivated, be disciplined instead.

2. Just draw for 3 minutes

Here’s a simple trick to get your drawing motivation back if you have no motivation to draw. Instead of planning out an hour or more of time to draw, start with just 3 minutes.

Almost everyone can draw for 3 minutes, even brushing your teeth takes longer than that. This breaks down the huge task of creating art into just a tiny step that seems very easy to do. Your brain recognizes that this is a simple task, and the resistance disappears.

You’ll often find that when you start drawing for a few minutes, you would want to continue with it. I often use this trick when I feel very unmotivated, and I end up drawing for more than 3 minutes every time. If you still don’t feel like drawing after that, it’s fine to stop and try again tomorrow.

3. Make art fun again

A lot of artists lose motivation and stop making art because they lost the feeling of fun. You can feel this very quickly if you are spending too much time on commissions or practicing. This is because what we need to draw for work is often not what we want to draw. Studying can also be demotivating because it can be challenging and repetitive. 

Instead of studying art or working all the time, carve out a time to simply draw what you love. Drawing what you love can reignite your passion for art. I find that a good balance between studying art and making art you love is by spending 50% of the time on each of them.

Another good way to make art fun is to listen to music you love or podcasts in the background. I personally love to have YouTube playing in the background which helps stimulate my mind as I draw.

4. Have your art already set up

I find it so much easier to start doing art when I have all of my materials already set up. Keep your sketchbook open along with the pencil/pen on the table. If you’re painting, have the canvas ready and supplies right beside it. I like to keep my Photoshop open at all times even when I’m working or writing.

Doing this reduces the resistance it takes for you to get started. The less resistance you have, the easier it is to feel motivated to do the art.

Imagine for a moment: you have your sketchbook tucked away in a box in your basement that is underneath a huge pile of books. Are you likely to draw then? Probably not. So do yourself a favor and make it as easy as possible to get started. This can be a very powerful trick if you combine it with the 3-minute method.

5. Start with warmup exercises

A great way to start a drawing session is to start with warmup exercises. The purpose is to just get something onto your sketchbook without having to think too much about it. Again, this reduces friction and can take the dreaded empty sketchbook feeling away. This also serves as a form of practice that will help improve your art.

Here are three exercises that I do at the beginning of almost every session:

• Connect the lines – make dots all around your paper, then connect them with a single smooth stroke. You can rotate your paper to make it easier. This helps you control your lines better.
• Connected circles – draw a circle on the paper, then draw another circle that touches the original circle. Keep going and fill in the gaps. Try to draw two laps per circle so you get used to the motion. This helps you make better circles (which is a very common shape when drawing).
• Ellipses – simply draw a bunch of ellipses. I like to stack them on top of one another. You can vary the sizes or try practicing one size. An ellipse is probably one of the hardest shapes to draw so it’s important to practice this one.

Check out my drawing practice article if you’d like to get the most out of your practice.

6. Spend less time on entertainment

You may or may not have heard of dopamine detox, a lifestyle change that eliminates or reduces dopamine spikes. Dopamine is a pleasure chemical and is often released when we do things like watching Netflix, playing video games, or browsing social media. The problem is when we do too much of those, we begin to lose motivation for doing harder tasks or tasks that we previously find enjoyable.

In my experience, my motivation for drawing drops sharply if I play video games for too long. A good solution is to cut down the high dopamine activities to one hour a day. This forces you to fill your other time with things that will benefit you like making art or exercising.

I found that as I draw more, my motivation for playing video games actually drops! So try to condition your body so that the dopamine you get from making art is motivating you rather than dopamine from “junk” sources.

7. Don’t compare yourself to artists on social media

Many beginner artists make the mistake of comparing themselves to the art they see on Instagram or other platforms. Realize that we are all at different stages in our art journeys. When you see great artwork, most of the time the artist has been doing art for several years. We also don’t know how much work they put in to get to that point.

The artwork we see on social media is often the best work that those artists put out. We often don’t see experimental pieces or their failures. So, don’t beat yourself up and judge yourself based on the quality of art you currently can make. If you keep comparing yourself to other artists, you might find that your motivation to make art slowly drops.

If you do decide to browse the artwork on social media, try to shift the mindset of becoming inspired instead of comparing your artwork with theirs. Ask yourself what you can learn from their art and appreciate their art without comparison. 

8. Allow yourself to suck

In my experience, low motivation can come from low self-esteem and fear of making bad art. Don’t judge yourself too harshly and allow yourself to suck. It’s ok to suck, especially if you just started or you’re not a professional. When you set the bar too high, you will find a lot of resistance to getting started because you want everything to be perfect.

A mindset I like to use is to assume that I am going to suck at whatever new thing I am learning for the next 3 months. I would then proceed to draw and practice that subject for a few months. This will allow you to tackle intimidating subjects without thinking too much about them. Failure is necessary for success, and the faster you fail, the closer you get to success.

9. Look back and see how far you’ve come

Seeing improvements from art I made months or years ago almost never fails to motivate me. If you look back at your previous artwork, you can often see that you have come a long way since then. Knowing that you are making progress is a great way to keep yourself motivated.

However, if you haven’t improved much, you most likely simply haven’t been consistent with art or practicing art correctly. Sticking to the tips outlined in this guide will put you on the right track. You can also check out my article on beginner drawing techniques to make immediate improvements to your art.

10. Set aside the same time every day to draw

A good way to build a drawing habit and increase your discipline is to set the same schedule for drawing every day. I like to set my drawing time at 8 pm after dinner. You can also set it in the morning right after you wake up if you’re a morning person. Try to keep it at the same time each day (for example, 7 am every morning rather than 7 am on one day and 8 pm on the next). This will train your brain to associate that time with drawing which makes it much easier to start.

Actually block out the time and set it in the calendar scheduling app you use. Commit to that time regardless of any resistance you might feel. It can be a short 5-minute session or an hour-long session, but the important part is that you are doing it every day. This builds up discipline and the habit of drawing. Before you know it, you will be drawing every day and making massive improvements.

11. Actively find inspiration

Rather than waiting for inspiration to hit you, I find it much more helpful to seek out inspiration for my drawing. While you definitely don’t need inspiration to draw, it can definitely help motivate you if you feel inspired.

Here are a few tactics you can use to find inspiration:

• Look at other artists’ work – one simple way to find inspiration is to browse artworks online. I often feel inspired after seeing a beautiful painting or an interesting character design. Avoid the trap of comparing yourself to the artist as mentioned earlier.
• Go outside into nature – nature is one of the best sources of inspiration. You can go on hikes, to the zoo, or to any place in nature like a waterfall. Staying indoors all the time can stifle your imagination and creativity. In nature, you will often find interesting objects and animals to sketch.
• Take a walk – if you’re out of inspiration, take a break and go outside for a walk. Walking is a great way to refresh your mind and help you generate ideas.
• Go to a coffee shop – I like to bring my sketchbook to the coffee shop, and I find that a change in environment can help you generate new ideas. It is also fun to do some urban sketching in and around the coffee shop.
• Search online for ideas – if you’re looking for ideas for things to draw, searching online is probably one of the easiest ways. Here’s my own article on drawing ideas for beginners .

12. Get an art buddy

Getting an accountability partner can definitely help your art motivation. This allows you to motivate and push each other when you or your art buddy lack motivation. An easy way to make art friends is to join Discord groups or Facebook groups for artists. Here’s a good discord server you can join: Koteriink ’s Starving Artist Discord .

Participating in an art community will also help with motivation. You will be able to see the progress of other artists which can motivate you to make more art. I also find that I feel more motivated to do art when I help other members of the community. Being around artists in general, whether online or offline, will help you stay motivated in art.

13. Try different mediums and subjects

If you’ve been doing one thing for a long time, it can demotivate you as the tasks and processes become repetitive. I find it helpful to change up the mediums I use to make art. I tend to lean towards digital art most of the time, but I also spend time drawing with pens, pencils, and watercolor. A change in the medium will force you to do different things and learn new things which can be fun and exciting.

Other than that, you can also change the subject you are studying. Instead of studying the same topic for weeks or months, study two or three topics at a time. You can also study multiple topics within the same session. For example, I recently have been practicing hands and figure drawing in most of my sessions. The variety keeps things interesting and helps you stay motivated.

What to do next

I hope this article gave you some new ideas about how to stay motivated to draw or paint. Let us know your thoughts! Check out our article on character design tips .

Richard Hsu

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How I feel about GPT-4o helping my kid learn math

• ChatGPT-4o can solve math problems from images, providing step-by-step hints for understanding solutions.
• Parents can benefit from ChatGPT as a learning tool, relieving pressure to know math and offering guidance for kids.
• Risk of kids cheating using ChatGPT exists, but parents can implement strategies to ensure understanding and avoid cheating.

In its spring update, OpenAI showed off its newest model: GPT-4o . This model brings a lot of the power of GPT-4 to the free version of ChatGPT, allowing those who don't have a paid subscription to access some of the more powerful features that ChatGPT can offer, such as the ability to generate art with readable text rather than nonsense.

This obviously has consequences for parents, both good and bad.

5 new GPT-4o features making ChatGPT better than ever

The update showcased the impressive conversational ChatGPT-4o 's capabilities, and also demonstrated how you can use ChatGPT-4o to help you solve a math equation by taking an image of the equation and asking for hints on how to find a solution. This obviously has consequences for parents, both good and bad.

Kids are already using ChatGPT to complete written assignments for them, with various levels of success, so what will happen now that solving a math assignment is as simple as snapping a photo? As a parent, here's how I feel about ChatGPT-4o being able to help my kids learn math.

What can GPT-4o do?

Solving math problems from images.

In its spring update demonstration, ChatGPT was shown the equation 3x+1=4 written down on a sheet of paper. The chatbot was then asked what equation was written down, and the correct equation was extracted from the image .

ChatGPT was then asked what the first step would be to try to solve this equation. The response was to get all the terms with x on one side, and all the constants on the other side. It then asks: What do you think we should do with that +1?

The host subtracted one from both sides to leave 3x=3 . ChatGPT then gave another hint: You have 3x, and you want to find the value of x. Think about what operation would undo multiplication. After incorrectly guessing subtraction, ChatGPT gave another hint: Think of the opposite of multiplication. The host was then able to complete the solution by dividing both sides by 3.

With GPT-4o, ChatGPT can generate art with text thats actually readable

Why gpt-4o's math abilities are good for parents, chatgpt knows math, so you don't have to.

They can ask ChatGPT for help with what to do next, without being spoon-fed the answer.

Solving written equations isn't something completely new . But as you could see from the demonstration, ChatGPT-4o wasn't just able to provide a solution for a math question. It was able to provide hints that could help to figure out what to try next. When the host gave an incorrect suggestion (to subtract instead of divide), ChatGPT broke the question down even further. At no point did ChatPGT tell the host what to do until he'd made the correct suggestion himself.

As a learning tool for kids , this is great. When they're working through a question, they can ask ChatGPT for help with what to do next, without being spoon-fed the answer. It means that they get an understanding of what they're doing, rather than simply copying down a solution from a screen without knowing why those steps are required.

Even for parents with a math background, there may be some challenging math questions from your older kids that you just don't remember how to solve.

I'm good at math, so helping my children with this type of question wouldn't be a problem, but many parents will have hated math at school, or simply not remember enough of it to confidently help their kids with this type of question. In these situations, having ChatGPT lend a helping hand is great for the kids and great for the parents. Even for parents with a math background, there may be some challenging math questions from your older kids that you just don't remember how to solve.

ChatGPT has the potential to be a really useful learning tool and can certainly take the pressure off parents having to know enough math to be able to do their kids' homework.

I tried NotebookLM with Gemini 1.5 Pro and its nothing like ChatGPT

Why gpt-4o's math could be bad for parents, cheating has never been easier.

Well, let's start with the obvious. Unless you physically stand watch over your child while they're doing their math assignments, you have no way of knowing if their work is all their own, if they had help from ChatGPT, or whether they got ChatGPT or any other AI to do the whole thing. There is the risk that your child will get AI to do all of their assignments for them and never learn a thing. Unfortunately, when it comes to examinations, ChatGPT isn't going to be allowed.

Another big issue that didn't come up in the demonstration is that ChatGPT can still get stuff wrong. I had a play around with the new ChatGPT-4o and asked it to solve a differential calculus problem. It was able to reach the correct solution, but to do so it had to use the product rule. The definition it gave for the product rule was completely wrong and would have led to a completely different solution. There's a clear danger that apps like ChatGPT could actively teach our kids the wrong things, or at best leave them severely confused.

Did Google sneak a pair of A/R glasses into its I/O demo?

What do educators think, great in theory, but needs to pass the kid test.

I spoke to Pocket-lint's resident educator and librarian, Kenzie Davison , who has recently spent time in an elementary classroom helping students practice for their fifth-grade state exams. Davison had a very interesting take on the ChatGPT-4o demonstration.

Her first concern was that although the chat seemed to emulate a typical tutoring session, we were actually watching an adult with a math background and a wealth of experience using ChatGPT . It's unlikely that the conversation would have gone as smoothly with your typical kid.

Her second point was that children learn by asking questions, and they often don't ask the 'right' question the first, second, or even third time. You need an understanding of the topic before you know what the right questions to ask are, and many kids may not know where to begin.

The host does interrupt ChatGPT when things go awry here and there during the demo to remind ChatGPT of context or clarify what was actually being asked. But from her experience, the interruptions with kids would come more frequently and a touch less elegantly when actually tutoring. She wonders if ChatGPT holds up to that kind of feedback and still gives helpful suggestions? Or does it tend to fall apart?

Ultimately, despite it being very helpful and interesting, she wants to see a live demo with a fifth-grade student or a group of students before she jumps on board.

Overall, she felt that while it was an impressive display, in its current form it would likely cause more frustration than a real tutoring session, as it lacks the contextual awareness that teachers bring. Ultimately, despite it being very helpful and interesting, she wants to see a live demo with a fifth-grade student or a group of students before she jumps on board.

Gemini will make searching your overwhelming Google Photos library suddenly easy

What can parents do to stop cheating with ai, don't dismantle their phone just yet.

This risk of kids using tech to cheat on their assignments isn't anything new. Websites such as Wolfram Alpha have been able to provide step-by-step solutions to math problems for years and are easily accessible on any phone. There's nothing inherent in ChatGPT-4o that allows your child to cheat any better than they could before. Even before smartphones, kids could copy someone else's work without ever having to understand it.

The big difference is that using ChatGPT can actually help your child work through a problem without being given the entire solution at once, which could be genuinely useful for some children. It can offer hints and tips even when you can't.

However, the risk of cheating is still there. There are some strategies that can help, such as asking your child to explain their solution to you. If they can't, it's highly likely it's not their own work. Do this a few times, and they may begin to give up on trying to cheat.

Using ChatGPT can actually help your child work through a problem without being given the entire solution at once, which could be genuinely useful for some children. It can offer hints and tips even when you can't.

If they can explain it to you, however, then even better. Teaching someone else how to solve a problem is one of the best ways to reinforce learning, and it can really encourage your kids if they think they're teaching you something you don't already know, because who doesn't like to get one up on their parents?

Google is bringing homework help and a multimodal Gemini Nano to Android

This is just the beginning, ai ain't going away.

The rise of generative AI has been explosive, to say the least, and it doesn't show any sign of slowing down. Models are only going to get more powerful and more accessible, so trying to fight against the use of AI by your kids is only going to end one way.

I believe ChatGPT-4o and whatever comes next can potentially help rather than hinder your kids' education.

Ultimately, if you're honest with your kids about how it can be used to cheat, but can also be used to help you learn, and you make it clear that you're going to be getting them to explain their work occasionally, then I believe ChatGPT-4o and whatever comes next can potentially help rather than hinder your kids' education.