How to Use a Fine Arts Elective to Prepare for Design School

If you are homeschooling high school, then you know electives are a necessary and exciting part of your teen’s high school experience. In fact, it’s good practice to include a fine art on their transcript, and for some students, fine arts will comprise many of their electives. How to Use a Fine Arts Elective to Prepare for Design School is an exploration of how to use an art appreciation curriculum as a way to prepare for future art and design school.

This post contains affiliate links. I was given Beautiful Feet Books Art Appreciation for this review and I was compensated for my time in writing the review. As part of the review process, I was not required to give a positive review. Thanks for your support!

When it comes to homeschooling a creative teen, we can be at a loss of how to prepare them for an art and design school. This is especially true when you are not a creative person yourself.

It’s also tricky to homeschool a teen while homeschooling younger siblings at the same time.

Beautiful Feet Art Appreciation curriculum is the perfect blend of family friendly and college prep ready.

Why Study Art Appreciation in High School

When I was a senior in a public high school, I took a semester of humanities. As a science person, who took multiple years of chemistry and biology, along with extra foreign languages, the semester to focus on arts and humanities was a welcome diversion.

What I didn’t know is how much those concepts, ideas, and art pieces would stay with me to this day.

And since I was a biological sciences major steeped in loads of science and math in college, I’m so glad I had that semester in high school!

So, what are the benefits of studying art appreciation, even if you’ve done it before, and especially if you are homeschooling a creative teen?

• Revisit Old Favorites– study favorites from when they were younger to see how their affinity for the art has changed or refined over time.
• Add Layers to Knowledge– even if they know an artist well, you can always study them again as they get older and are able to understand more and add to their knowledge bank on the topic.
• Try New Techniques and Media– for their own art by studying the masters
• Broaden their Experience & Exposure to Art– with new ideas and artists and movements, so that they can be better prepared to find their own artistic voice
• Reflect on their Own Creativity– because that goes a long way to owning their expertise as an artist and creative person
• Count the Class as an Art Elective– studying artist’s and their art, and trying their techniques is worth some credit for an elective. Take advantage of it!
• Use with Teens Who Dislike Art– they may find something that sparks their curiosity and it spreads out the visual art instead of having an intense fine art credit for a teen who would rather do anything other than art!

Benefits of Beautiful Feet’s Art Appreciation Curriculum

Now that you’re convinced to take on Art Appreciation in the high school years, let’s talk about why Beautiful Feet’s Art Appreciation curriculum is special.

• Gorgeous Materials- this is almost always at the top of my list, especially when it comes to other Beautiful Feet programs! I’m absolutely taken in by the visual appeal of Beautiful Feet curriculum materials and guides.
• Family Friendly– this program is designed to be studied with your whole family together. This a hallmark of Beautiful Feet Books curriculum and is well suited for homeschoolers with multiple ages working together
• Variety of Strategies– it’s not all art all the time, but instead it’s biography, art studies, creative thinking, and the art practices of artists.
• Defined Lessons– easy to figure out where you are and what you need to do in any given lesson which is perfect for busy homeschool moms juggling many learners at many levels.

What You Get in the Beautiful Feet Art Appreciation Box

Let’s get to some nuts and bolts about the Beautiful Feet Art Appreciation curriculum. Here’s what comes with your order:

• Book of Artists– is a biographical anthology of celebrated artists from the various time periods and movements in art. You have everything you need to study the artist and their art.
• Art Prints– included with the curriculum, is a set of 36 art card prints to go with your art studies
• Art Notebook– this is a consumable product that your student can use for answering questions, adding some art, and reflecting on the art pieces.
• Art Appreciation Teacher Guide– this is command central for homeschool moms! I adore Beautiful Feet teacher guides! Inside you’ll find all of the instructions and pro tips for using the program successfully with all ages.
• Downloadable Resource Packet– which is accessible through a QR code inside the teacher’s manual

Using Art Appreciation to Make Connections

When it was time to approach the modern era of art, our youngest, who is a computer programmer and musician, made the connection between Mondrian color box paintings and the programming language named after Piet Mondrian.

Piet is a stack-based esoteric programming language where the programs look like abstract paintings. It uses 20 colors that vary in cycles using different lightness and hue cycles.

Connection made.

You never know when they will happen.

Finding Inspiration

Rebecca is a huge fan of Albrecht Duhrer’s line work and takes inspiration from his detailed pieces.

You may know that our daughter is a creative soul who wanted to attend an Ivy League design program from early in high school.

We worked hard to allow her the freedom to be creative and to allow her to grow as an artist.

Do you have a creative teen who is interested in applying to art & design school? Check out How to Apply to Art & Design School. You’ll find out how to count this art appreciation curriculum for a fine art credit and you’ll learn so much more about how to encourage your creative teens, along with successful admission to art school.

Some details from Rebecca’s print made from the designs she etched into the copper sheet. Duhrer continues to be an art muser for her.

Rebecca went to Cornell University to study fashion design and completed her degree in 2022. She has a B.S. in Fashion Design with a minor in art.

As she perused the art prints in Beautiful Feet’s Art Appreciation card set, she pulled out the Albrect Durher print and another connection was born.

His line work is an inspiration to her and the art she does now, reflects this.

A view of the whole piece with a proud artis displaying it. She really enjoyed etching in the copper and would like to do it again someday.

Offers from Beautiful Feet Books

• Free Shipping for U.S. Orders– just use the code IHN26FS. Use the code and get your U.S. order delivered for free.
• Free Scope & Sequence– available to download from the product page
• Free Scope & Sequence– to download from the product page
  

How you choose to incorporate art into your teen’s creativity in their schooling will directly impact their talent formation, their design philosophy, and the body of work for their portfolio.