Drawing your way through the Middle Ages

[bluebonnetgirl]

My ds who is a rising 8th grader and  an aspiring artist, will be finishing up his Old World history book this summer.  He enjoys drawing, and I would like to find some drawing resources for the Middle Ages, specifically from about 800-1500. (Feudal System, Knights, Castles, Early England, Early Europe, Crusades, Renaissance, Early Explorers).

 

Does anyone have any good recommendations that are not too juvenile, but still include drawing instruction with pictures from this era?

 

Thank you!

[RootAnn]

Have you see Draw & Write Through History? Although it is geared for younger kids, I think older ones can actually do the drawings & details better. I've used it with older elementary kids, but for the final drawings - with color pencil detailing - older kids are a better audience. It would have some of what you are looking for in your list. Make sure you check out the samples on the page I linked. The table of contents list the drawings that are included in the Middle Ages book.

 

(If you want, I can see if I can find some of the pictures we did from the book. I think I have a castle, a trebuchet, and maybe a samari?)

 

Edited to add three drawings I found. I couldn't find the samurai, but added the viking longhouse & ship. We also did the falcon, knight, princess, and the greyhound, but I didn't scan those in. And, I guess it is a catapult & not a trebuchet. Oops.

Edited May 27, 2016 by RootAnn

[KeriJ]

Have you see Draw & Write Through History? Although it is geared for younger kids, I think older ones can actually do the drawings & details better. I've used it with older elementary kids, but for the final drawings - with color pencil detailing - older kids are a better audience. It would have some of what you are looking for in your list. Make sure you check out the samples on the page I linked. The table of contents list the drawings that are included in the Middle Ages book.

 

(If you want, I can see if I can find some of the pictures we did from the book. I think I have a castle, a trebuchet, and maybe a samari?)

😊

[Pistachio mom]

Hi, In the past I have taught small group classes for middle ages art. Some of the things I covered with my students included history of architecture, calligraphy - specifically illuminated manuscripts, stained glass designs, paintings that narrate scripture, history of specific saints, clothing fashion design, jewelry design, artwork from the Vikings..... Of course, the art history is rich. On the creative/media side, I created hands on projects that reflected the skills these artists demonstrated.  Specifically, perspective drawing, drawing floorplans of some of the cathedrals, copying and creating stained glass designs on paper using colored pencil, stained glass mosaic, we used sculpy clay to create Viking-like designs of the Valkerie, brooches, and gripping beasts, metal tooling, calligraphy using the unical style and creating geometric boarders that are inspired by the style of book of Kells illuminations, oil painting. My students (and my children) have especially enjoyed copying pictures of castles from the Dover Castles of the World book. It is a fun way to continue to draw and apply concepts of perspective and shading...

 

I will check my books to see if I have one with all of this. I usually pulled ideas from art history and just created age appropriate projects for my students which ranged in age from older elementary to high school. Your son could pick just a few of these and dig deeper with practice in technical skill and even some historic knowledge.

 

The Veritas website has a series of art history books that cost around $7. There is one for Middle Ages Art. I have not looked through it, but it might be an option. I have an Art of the Middle Ages (by Janetta Rebold Benton) book on my desk right now which is full of pictures of middle ages art. You could also do some virtual tours of castles, art museums, even the techniques of people who make movie props like for Lord of the Rings.... and other stories of that era. Our videos have all of this really amazing footage of the artists and craftspeople who created the armor, the coats of mail, swords, etc.... 

 

I hope this helps! You really do have lots of options.

 

 

[RootAnn]

I added some drawing attachments to my first post in this thread to show you what the finished drawings look like.

[katilac]

You can also just google "how to draw a castle" and similar search terms. My younger dd draws every day for hours and prefers googling for specific techniques/objects rather than using books. 

 

How to draw a castle, one example: http://arcmel.com/archives/254

 

How to draw a trebuchet brought this up, it's a complete series of lessons and has stuff like chain mail, catapult, sword, lots of weapons and how to convey battle action, dragons: 

 

http://www.stormthecastle.com/fantasyartschool/artlessons/lesson21-drawing-a-catapult.htm

 

How to draw a knight: http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-a-Knight

 

How to draw medieval armor: 

 

That last one is a Youtube video, and there are tons of them, so you can usually choose between a more typical lesson and a video. 

 

ETA: that video embeds itself no matter what I do, but it should be okay because it's meant to be that way and they want people to embed it. 

Edited May 29, 2016 by katilac

[bluebonnetgirl]

I really appreciate all the great ideas!  Thank you so much - I think we have a plan!