One family in our local Charlotte Mason support group shared her family’s experience with studying the photography of Ansel Adams. The mother had planned this unit around a family vacation that was coming up. They concluded the unit by visiting Yellowstone National Park. Each of her children took a few photos at Yellowstone, trying to capture the feel of Adams’ work. They used black & white film and tried to find subjects with strong contrast. This photo was taken by a six-year-old child! Each child chose his favorite shot to have enlarged.

This was a nice change and a beautiful addition to their art appreciation notebook. Art appreciation should be fun. Try an artist, perhaps from the list below, that you think your children will enjoy. You may want to study a particular artist before a show comes to your local museum.

Below is a list of some artists you might want to consider studying. These names are linked to their corresponding pages at one of my favorite art web sites.