176 Fall 2015 • The Artistic Homeschooler www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
Four Tips to
Incorporate
Art in
Your
Science
Lessons
In much of modern education, art and science are seen as separate disciplines with little in common. But it was not always so. Consider
Leonardo Da Vinci, an extraordinary
artist who was also a visionary scientist.
John James Audubon was both a naturalist and an illustrator, and even in today’s
world of high-tech photography, his bird
drawings are stunning.
Why did art and science overlap so
much in the past? One could point to
many possible reasons, but perhaps the
most important is that both art and science involve and enhance the skill of
observation.
I learned this as a young teenager
when I took up oil painting. I enjoyed
drawing and painting many different
subjects, but I especially liked to paint
landscapes. After I had been painting
landscapes for a few months, I noticed
a change in how I saw the world. While
riding across the Pennsylvania countryside in my parents’ car one Sunday afternoon, I saw something in the distant
trees that I’d never seen before.
Prior to that time, when I looked at a
distant stand of trees, I saw one color:
green. That afternoon, for the first time
in my life, I saw that the trees were not
merely green, they were many different
varieties of green. Some were a warm
yellow-green, others a cool blue-green.
Some were bright, while others were so
dark as to be almost black. I also saw
patterns in the trees and in different
shapes.
Art enabled me to see the world in a
whole new way. But drawing does not
need to be limited to an art class. By
incorporating scientific drawing into
your science class, you can greatly enhance your children’s ability to see, understand, and absorb whatever they are
studying.
I’ve outlined four tips to help you get
started.
commons.wikimedia.org
Art enabled me to see the world in a whole new way.
But drawing does not need to be limited to an art class.
