"Drawing with Mark" DVD Review

ABCD Diaries was given samples for review purposes only. We were in no other way compensated. The opinions expressed in this post are ours and ours alone. 

"Research has shown art education is crucial for children's cognitive and social development. For parents interested in grooming the next Picasso, the television series honored with both a Parents' Choice and Creative Child Magazine award, Drawing With Mark teaches children of all ages the fundamentals of drawing. Two DVD's each containing two episodes -- Drawing with Mark (Reach for the Stars and A Day with the Dinosaurs) and Drawing with Mark (We All Scream for Ice Cream and Happy Tails) -- are available now on DVD and digital platforms wherever home entertainment products are sold, including the national crafts retailer, Michaels.

A professional illustrator and creator of "Angels from the Attic," a comic strip that appears in 50 newspapers nationwide, host Mark Marderosian has a soft spoken and highly educational demeanor similar to Mr. Rogers. Marderosian has been teaching children how to draw for over 20 years. The

Drawing with Mark series is targeted to children ages 5 to 9 years old.   

Currently broadcasting on 150 television stations reaching over 350 cities nationwide, Drawing with Mark is an entertaining, interactive, educational series featuring live action as well as animated "Angels from the Attic" characters. Marderosian teaches simple basic art lessons and discusses shapes, parallel lines, shading, dimension, stick figures and action lines, so the budding artist can feel comfortable moving forward and expanding his/her creativity. Mark's teaching style is inviting, warm and extraordinarily nurturing. He's a natural born educator.

Each DVD consists of two 30-minute episodes that combine a field trip to a cool destination with two drawing lessons relating to the field trip, colorful animation, fun facts, trivia, and suggested reading books.  

Drawing with Mark: Reach for the Stars and A Day with the Dinosaurs

Mark Marderosian visits the Museum of Science in Boston twice where he introduces his viewers to dinosaurs and how they lived. Viewers then learn how to draw a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Pterodactyl.  On the second visit Marderosian and the "Angels from the Attic" learn about outer space, planets and stars. In this episode, the drawing lessons feature the planet Saturn and as well as a friendly astronaut on the moon.

Drawing with Mark: We All Scream for Ice Cream / Happy Tails

Visiting a neighborhood ice cream shop, children learn about everyone's favorite ice cream flavors. Mark then teaches everyone how to draw an ice cream cone and a truck. He then takes a journey to The Buddy Dog Humane Society, learns how to care for our four-legged friends, and teaches viewers how to draw a cat and a dog.

Each DVD contains bonus features on screen and off including:

• A bonus drawing lesson
• A draw-along-booklet with coloring page insert
• Instructions on how to download free coloring pages from the website -http://angelsfromtheattic.com/come-play/coloring-pages/ - where drawing pages can be printed out for even more ongoing fun. 

In addition to its Parent's Choice and Creative Child Magazine awards,Drawing with Mark is a Dr. Toy winner for "best vacation" product and was recently approved by Kids FIRST!, a voluntary collaboration consisting of more than 100,000 members whose mandate is to teach children critical viewing skills and to increase the visibility and availability of quality children's media. The series is also a National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences 2013 Emmy® nominee in the Children's/Youth category in the Boston/New England area."

What we thought:  A and D (who are 5 and 7) really enjoyed these shows.  They both love creating art and these DVDs are great for teaching drawing techniques in a fun way.  Mark also throws in lots of learning opportunities about subjects other than art. The kiddos learned a lot about dinosaurs and space with the first DVD. Here they are showing off their astronaut photos:

Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself:)

These DVDs would be great for intro to drawing lessons or the perfect rainy day/indoor summer activity for young artists...a great way to keep those young minds engaged AND entertained:)  ABCD Diaries gives "Drawing With Mark" DVDs an A+!