A couple of my kids really enjoy drawing. So when I had the opportunity to review a subscription to the online Drawing Program from Creating a Masterpiece, I knew it’d be a resource some of the family would have fun with.
What Is This Product?
I received a year-long membership to the online drawing program. Inside the drawing program, there were several different levels. I had access to:
- Beginning Drawing
- Drawing Level 1
- Drawing Level 2
- Drawing Level 3
During the review period, we only used lessons in Beginning Drawing and Drawing Level 1. There are many drawings in each level, which keeps young artists busy for a while.
What Art Supplies Are Needed?
Once we had access to the program, I was able to see what art products were needed. Here are some of the items I purchased, so we could create masterpieces of our own:
- Willow charcoal
- Drawing pencils
- Kneaded eraser
- Vellum paper
- Colored pencils
- Drawing paper
There may have been additional supplies needed in some of the other lessons, but this covered the ones that we did.
What Is The Online Drawing Program Like?
Once we logged in, it took a little while to learn how to use the site. Because of our slow, metered internet at home, I had the kids log in on my phone. One aspect that made it difficult for them to manage is that even after you logged in, you had to scroll past all the “locked” content from other programs to find the Drawing Program we had access to. I definitely would have preferred it to just show the levels of the program we could use, as it would have streamlined things quite a bit.
When you got to the lessons, you could pick the one you wanted to do. When you click on it, you’d find a supply list, and a link to the lessons. When you click on the lessons, you came to this screen, where you can navigate from one part of the lesson to the next.
This definitely took a while to get used to. Having to switch videos in the middle of drawing was sort of a pain. An auto-play feature would have been great.
The good part about having multiple videos is that each one was really short. They didn’t take long to buffer and played even on our bad internet without many problems.
Though I had several of my kids try this at first, it wasn’t a good fit for most of them. It’s not geared for younger kids, and many of them got bored or frustrated before they finished their first picture. However, my nine year old loved it.
She completed several projects, and enjoyed adding more drawing to her quiet time activities.
How Did We Use This Program?
I originally planned on all of us doing the program together once a week. But, that didn’t work out. The drawings (even the beginning level) were a bit too complicated for many of my kids.
So instead, we tweaked the plan. I let my nine-year-old do them on her own. Occasionally I did a project with her for our special time, if she requested it.
She really loved learning to use “real” art supplies, especially the kneaded eraser and willow charcoal.
First, she drew this cute cartoon style giraffe:
And since you can’t see the giraffe very well in that picture with her holding it, here it is in some better lighting:
Ellie also drew an egg, a trout, and a field of daisies from the Beginning Drawing level. We did the field of daisies together one afternoon. This was fun project. You had to cover vellum paper with willow charcoal. Then, you used an eraser to do the drawing part.
After these projects, Ellie asked if she could move onto the next level. I said sure. So she tried a couple. Her favorite was the penguin family:
What Did We Think of the Program?
I thought there was a lot of fun variety. The videos were high quality and the instructor really explained things well.
There were a few parts about the user interface that I wish were easier to use, but once we figured it out it wasn’t too bad.
But since I wasn’t the one who used this the most, I thought I better ask Ellie what she thought:
I liked that it didn’t feel babyish. I liked learning how to draw harder things that weren’t all cartoony. Using the willow charcoal and vellum paper was a lot of fun. You can see through that paper. I want to do more drawings.
So, if you are looking for a non-babyish drawing program for your kids, I’d recommend Creating a Masterpiece.
I was one of 70 reviewers to try this product. To see how it worked for other families, please click on the banner below.
