The Art Kit Subscription Box Review & Coupon – August 2015: Georges Seurat & Pointillism

The Art Kit introduces kids to the great artwork of the world through hands on activities and challenges them to recreate some of the techniques used to create the works by creating masterpieces of their own.

The packing is pretty, and the supplies are carefully tucked in several paper bags.  This is a great idea as a gift from visiting grandparents, because it is presentable just as it arrives, and it has great shared activities (that wouldn’t be objectionable to most parents – unlike, say, playdough).

This box featured Georges Seurat, the Neo-Impressionist who pioneered Pointillism.  We received a second set of the stickers and painting supplies as a “sibling add-on.”

Everything unboxed and unbagged! There’s quite a lot in this kit.

The intro brochure introduces you to the artist and technique being studied.

And lists all the supplies, what you’ll be doing, the tools, and extension ideas.

A Sunday on Le Grande Jatte puzzle:  24 giant pieces of ultra thick card stock makes this puzzle great for little hands.  AT 17” x 22”, this is a big, colorful exploration of Seurat’s most celebrated work.

The puzzle goes together really quickly, particularly for older kids, but its size and detail make it a great hands-on introduction to the work.

Pointillism stickers and watercolor paper:  colored dots can be used to create an original piece in the style of Pointillism.  The high-quality paper can be used for stickers, paints, or a combination of both.  Each child receives 2 sticker sheets and 6 sheets of watercolor paper.

The kids had a little trouble grasping the technique, opting for uniform clusters of color using the stickers.  The stickers were pretty big (about 1/4″ diameter), so you would have to make a fairly large picture to utilize them in the manner Seurat did.

Sticker booklet:  The booklet contains the famous characters from A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — kids can arrange them on the opposing pages of the booklet, or use them to recreate your own version of the painting.

Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists:  Georges Seurat, by Mike Venezia:  32-page book replete with colored illustrations and photos of the artist’s work.  This quick read explains to sound readers the way Seurat developed his technique.  It includes lots of great pics of artwork!

The book is really great!  It has some comic book style panels that portray Georges during different points (get it?) in his journey.  The book has tons of high-quality pictures of Seurat’s art, as well as some works from contemporaries and artists that inspired him.

I liked that the book pointed out that A Sunday on La Grande Jatte was Seurat’s first painting employing Pointillism in full — all his previous works used the technique to different degrees and employed more traditional techniques.  Talking about the progression of an artist’s development and the number of works created before they find their technique made the kids more comfortable with making their own works without worrying about creating a masterpiece right off the bat.

Painting supplies:  Each kid receives a 6-color set of Earth Paints powdered paint mix, scoops and muffin cups for mixing paints, swabs and stenciling foam brushes, a paint brush and couple pencils (for using eraser to dot).  Pictured is the double set, which includes the sibling add-on.

The paints mixed very well, and the kit came with the primary colors, orange, green, and brown.  Unmixed paint — in powder form — also stores exceptionally well for later use.

The kids needed a some help figuring out how to employ the technique, so a crude parental exemplar was required.  The cotton-tipped swabs worked best, their small size allowing use of multiple dots per object.

After some practice with stickers and paint, the kids started really getting the hang of it.  The kit comes with several sheets of paper per kid, so they have a chance to make many pictures and really explore the technique.
The foam stenciler was great for the younger artist, and it worked well for filling larger spaces.  The technique was a little intimidating for them because of the patience involved in creating a recognizable object out of mixed dots.  The book, puzzle, and sticker activities helped get them warmed up for the painting.

Extra Surprise:  While supplies lasted, subscribers received a bonus Art Kit BAGGU bag – great for rounding everything up in between sessions.

The educational bent of this box is great.  They picked an awesome artist to feature, as well — kids can easily imitate Seurat’s technique, if not his results.  The book and puzzle make this feel like a very well-rounded box.  The kids get a real flavor for the style and get to appreciate some great art before creating on their own. Because techniques and art history are often ignored in school, we think this is a great subscription for parents wanting their kids to gain more exposure to those topics, as well as for a homeschool art curriculum.

Visit The Art Kit to subscribe or find out more! Use coupon code AHS10P to save 10% on your first box on a new monthly subscription.