Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course PLUS 3 Bonus Courses from Beyond the Stick Figure Art School Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.  This post contains affiliate links.}

 

We love creating in our home and homeschool so when we were given the opportunity to review Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course PLUS 3 Bonus Courses from Beyond the Stick Figure Art School we jumped on it.  I love that Sally Stansfield, the designer and teacher of this course, is also a homeschool mom.  Not surprisingly, she attained a degree in art from Loughborough College of Art and Design in England.

A peek at our dashboard prior to starting this course.

This course includes the complete drawing course, pen and ink techniques and watercolor course, introduction to acrylic course, and an introduction to 3D design course.  There is a lot!  There are over 180 art lessons (close to 200).  That may sound intimidating but it's not.  These video lessons are easy to understand and engaging.  Ideas and concepts are broken down into manageable, bite-sized chunks by Sally, making this program super fun and doable at the same time.  I love that she walks you through the lessons herself, showing you how each step is done.

At the very beginning of this course, there is a short video just for Mom.  I really appreciated that this video encourages parents to stay positive in everything your kids create throughout this course.  There is no room for negativity or negative comments.  Every drawing is their work and it doesn't need criticism.  I love the positive focus!  The program also discusses the importance of using quality materials.  While large art sets can be cheap, they typically don't contain a lot of pigment.  This course shows you how to mix colors from a smaller palette of quality materials.  We actually own quite a bit of high quality art materials but I did purchase a new set of Prismacolor Markers and a Strathmore Sketch Pad to use with the drawing portion of this program.  Prismacolor Markers are full of heavy pigmented ink.  I also like that Sally shows students how to care for their materials and gives reminders often!

 

Sketch Pad and Prismacolor Markers

A closer look at our Prismacolor Markers.

This drawing program begins with the basic elements of shape: circle, dot, straight line, curved line, etc.  My older kids are familiar with this concept but it is a reminder for my younger kids.  Kids are encouraged to practice a lot and just have fun with their drawings 💓.  Even though this program starts out pretty basic, we had a lot of fun with it.  The program moves into showing you how to overlap shapes and then eventually how to create abstract drawings.  Oh, I should note that you will use a lot of printer paper (or copy paper as Sally likes to say).  I cut a bunch of sheets into quarters and that's what we used for many of our drawings.  There are also downloadable worksheets provided for lessons as needed.

Drawing Practice

 Bubbles and learning how to layer shapes

Abstract drawing

 Straight line abstract drawing


 Abstract drawing with a variety of elements

Above you can see a screenshot of the video lesson on drawing flowers.  Sally walks you through the step-by-step process.

 Some of our flowers...

 A bit of color theory

A large portion of the drawing program is to practice drawing the smaller pieces of a final drawing.  There are various worksheets provided for you to trace the pieces, dot-to-dot the pieces to make the lines yourself and then eventually free-hand each smaller piece as well.

Here is an example of a sheet of one of the smaller pieces.

Another example of a sheet of a different smaller piece.

Above you can see how the pieces I showed you previously fit into the final drawing.

The final drawing.  This is rewarding to draw and see as you finally have the "bigger picture" of the piece and see how the colors fit together from all the smaller pieces you have been working on.

A Pen and Ink Video Lesson

One of my creations from the Pen and Ink Course with watercolor

A's drawing from the Pen and Ink Course

After adding watercolor

 A's completed Acrylic painting

A closer view

I appreciate that this program can be used by our entire family as it has such a large age range.  I also like the flexibility it has to really adapt to your schedule so you can do one lesson a day or more, one lesson every few days, etc.  And while I love that it can be hands-off, or not strongly parent intensive, I have really enjoyed making quite a few of the drawings myself.  Absolutely, kids can use this program independently (especially older ones) but you can also enjoy it together if your schedule allows, which mine currently does!  I do wish that you could look ahead at the various courses independently from one another but they are currently linked sequentially meaning you have to complete the drawing program in its entirety before moving onto the pen and ink, watercolor, acrylic, etc.  We haven't made it to the 3D design course yet but it looks really fun.  If you are looking for an encouraging art program chock-full of ideas and tips to becoming a better artist, I would highly recommend Beyond the Stick Figure Art School.  I'm so excited to have a lifetime membership to this fantastic online course.

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