Painting and Drawing in Waldorf Schools

“Overflowing formative forces that are not made use of can become retrograde and pale into mere reaction patterns, whereas artistically invoked powers of creativity promote the ability to perceive, creatively shape, and gain individual insight. The pictorial arts have their own language for creating meaning, and for surprising and enlightening the gaze. The structure or grammar of this language is what we here call artistic, or pictorial, resources.” — Thomas Wildgruber (from the introduction)

Painting and drawing are key artistic expressions and play important roles in children's physical, emotional, and spiritual development. This comprehensive teachers' guide provides a complete artistic curriculum for Waldorf school classes 1 to 8 (ages 6 to 14).

At each stage, the book shows the skills that teachers can help children to develop. Included are 280 practical exercises for teachers, and more than 800 children's drawings and paintings that serve as inspiring examples of artistic possibilities. The curriculum moves from free to guided color exercises and precise perspective drawing.

The exercises draw on elements of the Waldorf curriculum at appropriate ages, incorporating themes from fables and legends, the Old Testament, Norse mythology, animals, Ancient Greece and botany.

Throughout, the author draws on art theory and shows that art is truly a universal language. Painting and Drawing in Waldorf Schools is also suitable for adult self-education.