Artists/Picture Study

"Picture study is giving your child intentional time to develop a relationship with art."

Why Picture Study?

In Volume 1 of Home Education, Charlotte Mason discussed picture study as a way to train the eye to observe composition, line, form, and subject, laying the groundwork for the child's own artistic expression, both in drawing and appreciation. However, she also offers additional reasons for including picture study in a child's education, both explicitly and implicitly across her six volumes, as follows:

1. To Cultivate the Habit of Attention

"The picture is studied attentively every day that week, and the child tells what he sees. Thus, gradually he is trained in seeing and expressing his impressions clearly."
(Volume 1, p. 309)

Picture study fosters focused observation. The practice of looking closely at a painting over the course of a week builds the child's power of attention, which Mason considers foundational to all learning.

2. To Train the Mind in Observation and Visual Memory

Mason strongly believed that children should be able to picture things in their mind (a concept related to her idea of visualization and mental image formation).

“We cannot do without knowledge of pictures, any more than we can do without a knowledge of books.”
(Volume 6, p. 214)

She often expected students to be able to recall and describe a painting in detail after looking at it just once. This built visual memory, a skill that supports observation, narration, and descriptive language.

3. To Introduce Children to Great Ideas and Culture

Although she doesn't frame picture study primarily as "art history," Mason believed in exposing children to the best that has been thought and expressed, including the great works of art.

“We must bear in mind that the great ideas of life do not come to us by reason, but by imagination...”
(Volume 6, p. 40)

Art is one way great ideas are conveyed—not through words but visually. Studying great paintings gives children access to noble and beautiful ideas.

4. To Awaken a Sense of Beauty and Nourish the Soul

Mason believed that education was about feeding the mind and the soul. Picture study contributes to the development of taste and sensibility.

“The function of education is not to give technical instruction, but to give a full life.”
(Volume 5, p. 217)

A "full life" includes joy in beauty, and exposure to fine art helps the child develop a love of the beautiful and the ability to find joy in it.

5. To Provide a Lifelong Source of Enjoyment and Relationship

A hallmark of Mason's philosophy is forming relationships with knowledge, including the arts. She expected that the child who grows up studying pictures would later find companionship and comfort in art throughout life.

“We cannot measure the influence that one or another artist has upon the child's sense of beauty in everyday life... the art he knows becomes a part of his living thoughts.”
(Volume 6, p. 216)

In other words, picture study is part of Mason’s idea of “spreading a feast.” It forms relationships, not just with content, but with people—the artists—and truth, goodness, and beauty.

"There is no talk about schools of painting, little about style; consideration of these matters comes in later life, but the first and most important thing is to know the pictures themselves."

~Charlotte Mason, The Philosophy of Education, p. 216

How to Do Picture Study

Note: These steps are based off of a workshop by Rebecca of a humble place as the 2025 CMER Retreat and an excellent article by Brandy Vencel at AfterThoughtsBlog.net called "Myth: The point of composer study and picture study is to know about composers and artists as individual persons."

Picture study is a weekly lesson that lasts 10-20 minutes with the same picture studied across two weeks.

Picture Study Lesson Steps for Week 1

Lesson Recap (i.e. Scaffolding) - Ask the student what he remembers of the last picture-talk.
Lesson Introduction - Briefly tell a bit about the artist that is pertinent for understand the painting at hand.
Quiet Looking Time - Give him his copy of the picture and let him examine it and find out all he can know about it. As Charlotte Mason explains on p. 214 of "A Philosophy of Education, "...that is, children learn, not merely to see a picture but to look at it, taking in every detail." Encourage him to think of what the artist had in mind, or what he was trying to convey. This lasts 3 or 4 minutes.
Narration - Take the picture away and find out what he has noticed. Questions are fine: did anything suggest the time of day? What might the different dogs suggest in terms of strength or personality? If you are studying in a group, narration options include describing it as if your audience has never seen it before, partner narrations, taking turns in a circle to share 1-2 things that stood out to each student, or recreating the painting with the students' bodies (i.e. Pageant of Masters).
Connection - Now have him read the title of the painting. Have him tell anything he knows about it. In this instance, the painting was of Alexander and Diogenes, so what he remembers about that from his narrations in other lessons.
Line Drawing (Optional) - Briefly draw the chief lines. This is not a duplication, but rather lines representing where major objects were in the portrait.

Picture Study Lesson Steps for Week 2

Lesson Recap (i.e. Scaffolding) - Ask the student what he remembers of the last picture-talk.
Lesson Introduction - Let the student know that you will be looking at the same picture as last week and noticing any other details/features about the painting they may find upon a second viewing.
Quiet Looking Time - Give him his copy of the picture and let him examine it and find out all he can know about it. As Charlotte Mason explains on p. 214 of "A Philosophy of Education, "...that is, children learn, not merely to see a picture but to look at it, taking in every detail." Encourage him to think of what the artist had in mind, or what he was trying to convey. This lasts 3 or 4 minutes.
Further Discussion (Optional) - Tell more about the painting itself, such as the story behind it or why the artist chose to paint it. Mention symbolism and other interesting things in/about the painting. Ask open-ended questions of the student, such as:

Observation and Detail:

What do you notice first about this picture?
What details stand out to you?
If you were in this picture, what would you be doing or feeling?
What do you think the people in this picture are thinking or feeling?
What do you think they might be talking about?
What do you think they're looking at?
What time of day do you think it might be?
What do you think the weather is like?

Connection and Reflection:

Does this picture remind you of anything you've read or seen before?
What does this picture remind you of?
What does this picture make you think of?
How does this picture make you feel?
What emotions do the colors make you feel?
What's your favorite part of this picture and why?
If you could add anything to this picture, what would it be?
What do you think the artist was trying to tell us with this picture?

Imagination and Storytelling:

What story do you think this picture could tell?
What do you think would happen next in this picture?
What are your thoughts about the people or objects in this picture?
If you could put yourself in this picture, what would it be like?

Final Considerations

If you have children in Form 1 (or below), do not feel obligated to include the optional steps. Your children are building the necessary habits of attention, accuracy, and narration with the foundational steps of picture study. As students grow in maturity and attention span, you may want to expand your picture study time by including the optional steps, as time and energy allows. You do NOT need to talk about styles, movements, technique, etc. unless it comes up organically.

Additional Resources:

Why is Picture Study Important? · a humble place

Why We Study the Arts @ Simply Charlotte Mason

Myth: The point of composer study and picture study is to know about composers and artists as individual persons. - Afterthoughts

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