Waldorf art is unique and beautiful. The crayon drawings, the watercolor paintings, and oh, those colorful chalkboard drawings! But when we’re new to Waldorf, we often wonder how to learn Waldorf art. How do we learn the specific techniques so that we can bring these lively arts to our children?
The answer is Waldorf Art for Beginners, a self-paced online course created by Robyn & Brian Wolfe over at Waldorfish.
Oh, how I wish this course had been around twenty years ago when I was just starting out on my Waldorf homeschooling journey!
I’ve searched for years for a way to help Waldorf homeschoolers learn these arts at home. And now it’s available to you in this online course, Waldorf Art for Beginners.
How to Learn Waldorf Art
So often in the beginning of our homeschooling, we lack the confidence to even try to make main lesson books because we aren’t sure how to do the crayon drawings. Or we feel at a loss on the watercolor painting because we just don’t get how to paint wet-on-wet. Much less why!
In this post, I offer my review of Waldorf Art for Beginners. I recommend this as a starting point for homeschoolers new to Waldorf, or those still struggling with bringing color and artistic experiences to their children.
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Waldorf Art for Beginners is a self-paced course with 8 videos. This course is straightforward and so practical, a great way to learn Waldorf art.
The course includes the three basic art skills needed for Waldorf homeschooling: watercolor painting, crayon drawing, and chalkboard drawing. That’s really all you need to learn and you will be well on your way to bringing art to your children on a daily basis!
The videos offer some instruction for the parent, and some activities that you can do with your children. Oh, if only I’d had this course when I was just starting out!
It took me years to learn these things about crayon drawing, painting, and chalk drawing. Lots and lots of trial and error, just jumping in but not feeling confident. It was scary because I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing. We rarely painted in the early years because I found it so intimidating.
This online course is so much more effective than just reading about these techniques in a book. Believe me, I’ve tried learning painting and drawing from a book and it’s very difficult. Especially when you’re a beginner. Once you can see and understand the techniques, books can be very helpful. But we really need to see someone demonstrating the way to hold the brush, the way to blend the colors to be able to bring this to our children’s lessons.
The combination of video and print in Waldorf Art for Beginners is just right. There are 8 videos, ranging from 7 to 14 minutes in length. Along with some tutorial print lessons that include photos.
Here is an outline of the lessons which can be completed in four days.
Waldorf Art for Beginners
Getting Started – Day One (3 Lessons)
- Video One: Supplies – watercolor paper, paint, & boards
- Video Two: Supplies – watercolor brushes, jars, rags, storing supplies, soaking bin
- Crayon & Chalk Supplies – with a discount of 10% off from Bella Luna Toys
One of the things I love about Robyn & Brian at Waldorfish is that they offer lots of options. Plus, they are really clear about what’s necessary and what’s not.
In discussing supplies, Robyn shows 3 options for painting boards. She suggests starting with the primary colors. But you don’t necessarily need to use the Stockmar brand. She talks about how thick and what size paper. In the discussion about brushes, I even learned a few things here about size. There are even DIY instructions on how to make your own chalkboard.
At one point Brian says, “It’s easier than we think to make a really nice image with these (block crayons).” I would only add “…with some very focused, practical instruction.”
And that is exactly what Waldorf Art for Beginners provides.
Watercolor 101 – Day Two (2 Lessons)
- Lesson: Soaking Paper & Mixing Pigments
- Video: Watercolor Tutorial
I learned a new technique in this lesson about how to use a dry brush for blending.
Block Crayon Basics – Day Three (4 Lessons)
- Lesson: Care & Storage of Beeswax Crayons
- Video : Crayon Exercises (for Adults) – Part I
These exercises for adults are so helpful for understanding and experiencing shading & line, values of light & dark. Plus how to use the different edges of the block crayons.
- Video: Crayon Exercises (for Adults) – Part II
- Video: Crayon Drawing (for Adults & Children)
Demystifying Chalk Drawing – Day Four (2 Lessons)
- Lesson: Care & Storage of Chalk
- Video: Chalk Basics & Chalk Landscape
One of the goals in Waldorf artistic experiences is the liberal use of color because this helps children “to shape and perceive new ways of looking at the world.” These lessons provide the support in how to do this.
Brian talks about getting shape and color up quickly, and then we can blend and add simple gestures. He says, “it’s not a complicated process.” With the guidance that Waldorf Art for Beginners offers, Waldorf homeschooling parents can gain the confidence to bring these unique and beautiful techniques to their children at home.
I highly recommend Waldorf Art for Beginners. The price is so reasonable! Plus, Waldorfish has extended a 10% off discount to my community!
Here’s What To Do Next
Check out the details of Waldorf Art for Beginners here.
Have fun creating art with your children.
It’s hard to teach your children to watercolor paint when you have no clue how to do it yourself! I’d love to learn this skill so that I can share it with my children.
This would be wonderful. The first time I tried to do painting with my own I showed my painting first. My kids thought the 4 year old neighbor girl had done it and couldn’t understand why I had it. I was so embarrassed I went along with it and I don’t do the paintings anymore. I need these classes! 😉
We are new and just entering kindergarten for the first of my 3 kids. My biggest fail (so far) has been only providing one tin of block crayons and expecting them to share! They were not into sharing! Lol. I quickly ordered another couple of sets.
My epic fail was first not getting the right water color materials. Quality matters. And then trying to do our first wet on wet. I didn’t soak the paper well enough, I rubbed it instead of blotting it, and the colors ran all over the place, the paper route apart. Needless to say both my daughter and myself were quite frustrated. I’ve gotten better, but sum not sure.
My painting for the fable about the dog who loses his bone in the water because he wants to snatch the bone belonging to his reflection was, in my son’s opinion, a “deranged koala.” We still laugh about that!
Just starting out, so haven’t had too many hiccups with showing my kiddoe anything. However, one of my block crayon creations I made for my 4yr old was suppose to be a princess, but she asked, “mama, is that suppose to be the troll that lives under the bridge? “
Somehow I found myself, cheese grater in one hand, watercolor pastel crayon in the other, trying to turn the watercolor crayons into liquid for our big wet-on-wet debut. Basically ended up giving Red, Yellow, and Blue each a ten minute massage to coax them from their solid form. The prompt was to paint a scene from our fairy tale, of course I hadn’t done the example so instead just gave verbal direction, and the watched wide eyed while my son turned the paper into a brown blah parade. I would so welcome less jagged edges and more grace in our art journey.
We recently started kindergarten with my oldest. I am spending way to much time think, reading, watching Youtube videos, and yet I still struggle to bring art in a magical and lively way to my kids. I would be so grateful for these lessons!!
I’m just beginning to branch out of my comfort zone and know that I have SO much to learn and that I personally need a ton of practice! My biggest fail has come with the chalkboard drawing! I am not a good drawer in general, again, I need practice and with all areas in art, which I love, I need guidance and visuals!
My chalk drawings are so sad! I attempted to draw a lamb the other day and my son was completely confused!!! I definitely need to improve my skills.
My first attempt at teaching water color to my then 2nd grader was such a failure that he then refused to paint unless it was in an art class at our local art museum! I had no idea how to teach it. It was hard for my perfectionist kid and he was disappointed when his painting did not look like mine. Now I am trying to teach my 1st grader and kindy kid. What a great giveaway abd resource!
I incorrectly selected materials for watercolor painting and more or less dyed my toddler a variety of colors… also the wall, table and a few chairs… oh and Me!
My biggest challenge was wet on wet watercolour painting. I really struggled with that and ended up putting holes in the papers, a complete disaster! I would love to learn how to do this especially as I know my kids get so much enjoyment from it.
Me and my daughter we love to paint with waldorf techniques althought sometimes it´s hard to convince my daugther that brush or crayons is better than a pencil. I´d love to go throught this lessons to get more inspiration and know-how about waldorf painting. Thank you.
My epic fail is that for a year straight I can’t seem to bring anything more to watercolor than a circle. Kindy 2 and she is wanting more!
I have no idea where to start this would be great for my daughter and I.
I can’t seem to get the colors rich enough, they always seem so watered down. Would love the advice, I’ve never taken a watercolor class before and have no clue! Thanks!
The difficulty for me concerning watercolor paint is regulating the paint/water ratio. Either my paper is too wet or it is too dry, rarely “just right.”
Block crayons are fun! I never thought of crayon use as an adult, but block crayons have opened my eyes to the fact that there are no age barriers in crayon use. They are a great skill equalizer. I like to plan the pictures with lemon yellow, and this sometimes backfires.
I have purchased some of the supplies like the chalk used at the Waldorf Schools. We were at the Elves Fair at our former Waldorf School and I we were walking through the grades, and they had a basket of chalk next to a stunning chalkboard. My daughter said “Mom! Can you get these!!??” And she pointed to the chalk and thenchalkboard to show me the result. I told her those are the same ones we have at home. She looked at me, then the chalkboard and then me and said……. “Oh……”
Yes, so I will be needing that online course!
New to Waldorf this year. My oldest is in 4th grade. Trying to learn drawing with block crayons technique but I’m struggling. I tried a basic landscape with her a few weeks ago and she was so frustrated because it wasn’t looking right. I think if I had a better grasp on concepts I could be a better teacher for her. We’ve done some basic watercolors. I haven’t attempted chalk drawings yet.
My biggest failure is to skip art all together because I don’t know what to do! My 4th grader needs me and I need you Waldorfish 🙂
Thank you, Jean. And thanks to all of you who are honestly posting your experiences. I am über-new to homeschooling, and want to pursue a Waldorf-Inspired philosophy to educating because I believe so much in connecting our human feelings to the information we learn with our minds, and then making something beautiful that can re-capture what our minds thought and our hearts engaged. Beginning this journey is like standing at the foot of a big mountain, and there are all these doors in the mountain to enter through…but each of them takes time and organization to arrange a ladder for climbing. So I am needy. Needy of scaffolding without the money for the wood and hammer and an assortment of nails! Thankful for the most incredible bloggers and websites which offer timely guidance and good ideas. And mostly, thankful for the space in this universe to feel needy, to insist that time can be found, and the peace that I believe is possible even amidst rummaging through the piles of wood and nails that others have created and given me access to. The ladder is here somewhere…