Art & Drawing Ladder · Elementary · Grade K–3

Drawing for Young Artists

For ages 5 to 9, with a grown-up: lines and shapes, drawing animals and things from shapes, colors and mixing, patterns, faces and feelings, using the whole page, and looking closely.

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40 topics in 9 units. Leads to Drawing Basics. Not sure this is the right course? Find your rung.

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Unit 1 Lines

5 topics

Straight and curved, standing and leaning, zigzag and wavy, thick and thin: the lines every drawing is made of.

  1. Straight and Curved Lines
  2. Lines That Stand, Lie and Lean
  3. Zigzag, Wavy and Spiral Lines
  4. Thick and Thin, Light and Dark
  5. Lines All Around Us

Unit 2 Shapes

4 topics

Circles, squares, triangles and their friends, and the free shapes of clouds and leaves.

  1. Circle, Square and Triangle
  2. Rectangles, Ovals and More
  3. Finding Shapes in Things
  4. Neat Shapes and Free Shapes

Unit 3 Drawing from Shapes

6 topics

Houses, cats, fish, birds, cars, trees and flowers, built one shape at a time.

  1. Draw a House from Shapes
  2. Draw a Cat from Shapes
  3. Draw a Fish and a Bird
  4. Draw a Car or a Train
  5. Draw Trees and Flowers
  6. In Front and Behind

Unit 4 Colors

6 topics

The rainbow, the primary colors, mixing new colors, warm and cool, lighter and darker, and the color wheel.

  1. The Colors of the Rainbow
  2. The Primary Colors
  3. Mixing New Colors
  4. Warm and Cool Colors
  5. Lighter and Darker Colors
  6. The Color Wheel

Unit 5 Patterns and Mirror Halves

4 topics

Patterns that repeat, what comes next, patterns on animals and plants, and symmetry.

  1. Patterns That Repeat
  2. What Comes Next?
  3. Patterns in Nature
  4. Mirror Halves

Unit 6 Faces, Feelings and People

5 topics

Where the parts of a face go, how a face shows feelings, and people built from shapes.

  1. Where the Face Parts Go
  2. Happy, Sad and Surprised
  3. Eyebrows Show Feelings
  4. People from Shapes
  5. Hair, Hats and Clothes

Unit 7 Using the Whole Page

3 topics

Drawing big, sky and ground, and near and far.

  1. Draw It Big
  2. Sky and Ground
  3. Near and Far

Unit 8 Looking Closely

4 topics

Drawing what you see, counting details, showing how things feel, and where shadows fall.

  1. Draw What You See
  2. Counting the Details
  3. Bumpy, Smooth and Fuzzy
  4. Light and Shadow

Unit 9 Artists and Their Tools

3 topics

Crayons, paint and clay; portraits, landscapes and still lifes; flat pictures and solid sculptures.

  1. An Artist's Tools
  2. Portraits, Landscapes and Still Lifes
  3. Pictures and Sculptures
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